Just Another Day
by Jashinista
Summary: [AU] Sakura transfers to a new school where she begins her sophomore year, but she is pulled into a series of spiraling events that are sure to get her kicked out. Diarrhea on the first day, pornography loving teachers, and her slight obsession with yaoi. Just another day for Sakura Haruno. : MultiSaku
1. Flavorful Chicken

**Title:** Just Another Day

**Summary:** Sakura transfers to a new school where she begins her sophomore year, but she is pulled into a series of spiraling events that are sure to get her kicked out. Diarrhea on the first day, pornography loving teachers, and her slight obsession with yaoi. Just another day for Sakura Haruno.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or its characters.

**A/N:** Second chapter is MUCH better than this. Sorry for the excessive swearing, i'll tone it down. Of course, every man for themselves for Hidan shows up ^-^

* * *

**Chapter 1: Flavorful Chicken**

**xxx**

Lovely thoughts. _Just think about nice things, things that make me happy,_ she thought. Anything, anything other than the monstrous noise coming from her stomach.

_That thin crust delissio boxed pizza I had for dinner though… So good._

Soooooooooooooooooooooo good.

Fuck, don't think about food. Anything but food. And using the damn toilet.

Shit – and don't think about shit! Shit is the equivalent to diarrhea and oh baby jesus she's about to blow.

Oh to hell with modesty and being on time for the opening assembly, she needed a washroom… and _now._

She pushed and shoved her way through the hallway, thanking the intelligent part of her brain for forcing her weak body out of bed this morning and getting to school earlier than necessary. It was in her nature, ever since middle school she had been known as the goody-two-shoes who's always handing her work in on time and doing everything in her power to become the teacher's pet. And oh, she _always _found a way.

And pornographic novels were the way for her 8th grade teacher – but now isn't the time to get into that.

Where the hell were the public washrooms? She damned her luck for not looking over the school map more carefully this morning, but her bowl of fruit loops was just dying to be eaten. Plus her favorite show, _16 and Pregnant_ was on for a couple hours and she couldn't deny tugging her blankets from her room to snuggle into the couch and be reeled into her reality show addiction…

Oh and them fruit loops… sugary goodness and rainbow delight.

BLURGHHHHHHHH

Her stomach was sounding a little better, the humorous side of her thought. (Yes, a person can have many different personalities with being diagnosed with some disease that should be feared). But oh, it was just the beginning. Sakura, or more so her petite stomach, was going to have lots of fun in that bathroom stall.

If these people would just get out of her way, that is.

Shove, and shove, and – oops, she thinks that was a push. Oh, he fell. Oh, who's fault was that? _Definitely not mine._

discreet giggles emitted from Sakura's mouth, creeping the hell out of those walking past her. First impressions are crucial, she always thought. Let her be remembered as whatever they like this time… Sakura Haruno will be back to wipe away their judgmental stares once she gets into her study mode and beats their asses in...

Wait, why is she getting worked up so early in the morning?

_I thought it was too early for all these people to be here? I thought I was the only one that cared about on time attendance! I, Sakura Haruno, do not approve of this!_

"Well good, because no one gives a fuck."

The sudden gruff voice stunned Sakura in place. Not only that, but a hand gripped tightly onto her left shoulder, quickly twisting her around.

Had she voiced her opinion out loud? Oops.

Sakura grabbed hold of the hand on her shoulder and threw it away in disgust. "Don't touch me, you undignified asshole."

Sakura, tired enough of standing idly in the hallway talking to some thug, turned to leave but another hand halted her in place. Sakura lowly growled before looking up into the face of the man. "Look, if you don't let go of me now I–"

"Or you'll what?" Violet orbs stared down at her in amusement. "What could a fucking pink haired bitch like you do to _me?"_

Sakura sighed outwardly in annoyance. Pink hair. It's what they all say. She knows she has it, she sadly has to endure it and detangle it every morning because it somehow gets messed up in her sleep. She always loved the idea of coming to school one day with bed head and just passing it on to others as a "wild night in the bedroom" but she deemed it too _dirty _and she doesn't exactly need any teachers catching drift of such rumor.

So basically, it was useless and she could have no fun with it. Dying it would be wasteful and cutting it off would remove all femininity from her being. Being flat chested and having no ass had no perks and if it weren't for her girlish clothing and hair colour she would look like a walking transvestite just like that blonde over there.

Yes, the one walking over to her right now.

"_You!" _

Blue orbs stared aggressively in her direction, and she figured the boy was walking right towards her. For what reason? Who knows.

"You bitch! I swear to god – I should just –"

Has the name calling already begun?

The boy stood menacingly over her, just a head taller. Still, he looked pretty massive and if it were any other person in her position right now, she would be wetting her pants. Better yet, letting out that _load _ that's ready to be released, if you get my drift.

BLURGHHHHH

Where are the washrooms again?

"Hey, Pinky! Are you even listening, yeah?!" Sakura's eyes drifted back up towards the blonde who now stood with his arms crossed. "Well? Apologize."

If only she were in a cartoon, then a large question mark should be looming over top her head right now. Better yet, replacing her irises to show even more confusion.

But this was reality and she must deal with all situations as politely and formally as possible. That's just the type of person Sakura is, after all.

"Apologize for what?"

"You still need to apologize to me as well, bitch!"

Sakura, as if just noticing the other man still standing there, looked over in surprise. Silver hair and violet eyes, plus he almost resembled an albino. Of course she would never voice that aloud, it was still nice to think about.

Anyway...

" –Pushing me over back there, yeah! I know it was you, Sasori saw it!"

This blonde dude was mad at her over that? Oh… so he was the one she so happened to _push over _instead of _shove._

Sakura curiously looked over his shoulder and saw a red head waiting rather impatiently. So, that's Sasori. _The guy that ratted me out!_

Sakura's gaze drifted back to the blonde and she offered an apologetic look. The silver haired man, not so much. He just looked like he was angry at her just for the sake of being angry. He stood next to the blonde with his arms defiantly crossed but Sakura caught the light smirk that graced his lips. _Asshole, _Sakura muttered under her breath. Wasting her time like that, and thanks to him, the blonde was able to catch up to her.

She turned back towards the blue eyed boy and bowed slightly, ready to apologize. Besides, she honestly was sorry. She was all in a rush to make it to the washrooms and not be late for the opening assembly because she had some of the god awful spicy food that was being offered right outside the school and she doesn't know why she fucking took some when it's so early in the morning and you'd think that some vendor standing outside a school didn't sound sketchy enough but selling spicy food to children makes her wonder why nobody was stopping him and oh god that spicy tortilla wrap that she had was so good but it's taking its toll on her body and fuck the blonde is looking at her like she's some maniac because she's bent over with her arms over her stomach and her face probably didn't look too pleasant either and shit she really had to go and shit stop thinking about shit and shit shit shit shit –

Okay so you know that stuff she was going on about just now – yeah, when desperate times calls for desperate measures, you do what you gotta do.

And so, she ran. She ran for her fucking life. She ran as if all else depended on her saving her ass from imploding in front of the whole school population.

Okay TMI! But, this is a story about Sakura and her explaining her everyday life. If she were to skip over the fact that she had a – ahem – _malfunction _on her first day to a new school, the rest would just sound like baloney! The entertainment of this story relies on the events that occur on this day and Sakura would be damned if her adventure to the toilets was not told! Alright – carry on scurrying over to the washroom, young one.

And so she pulled the handle and ran in, not too sure where she was and if it's even the washrooms but really all that mattered at the moment was that she get rid of that pesky blonde boy.

She shut the door behind her and sighed in relief, sliding down the cold wood onto her bosom with her knees pulled up against her chest. _Just a couple more minutes, _she told herself, rocking back and forth slowly trying to tame her stomach. _When I hear that the coast is clear, I run out and continue my search for the washrooms._

_BLURHGHHGHGHGHGHHHGH_

"Fuck," Sakura grumbled as she tightened her hold against her legs. "I need to go so badly…"

"Why the rush?" Sakura's eyes shot up at the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion, I–" Hold up.

Hold a couple fucking holds up.

And more holds.

Sakura shot right up, ignoring the waling her stomach was making. She didn't really care if her sensei could hear it, shes had to deal with enough shit today.

_Don't say shit!_

"Shit…" Sakura mumbled, quickly covering her mouth and waving it off with a giggle. "Did I say shit? I meant… Hello Kakashi sensei!" Sakura rushed over to her long time sensei and gave him an awkward side embrace. He stiffened in her hold and she realized a student and a teacher hugging each other in an empty classroom probably wasn't the wisest of ideas.

So she let go and took two long strides backwards, a pink tint covering her cheeks. "Heh, sorry…"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head awkwardly for a moment, not sure how to take in the current situation. He had been gathering his notes to prepare for his first class today before he would be forced to attend the opening assembly, until a rather familiar pink haired student ran into his room and sat against door clutching her stomach as if she were ready to vomit.

Just another day, he supposed.

"Sakura." He nodded once before giving her a questioning stare. "What gives me the pleasure of your sudden… appearance?"

"Oh!" Sakura gasped, staring intently at her sensei, "So you teach at a high school now? And this one, at that! My old high school was pretty bad so I hope I have a better time here, with my favorite sensei at that! Wow I can't believe I'm actually seeing you again, ever since you got kicked out for–"

Sakura's speech was altered as a hand tightly covered her mouth. It tasted like chicken.

Not that she meant to lick it or anything. It just sort of happened, okay?

Kakashi sighed inwardly. _Same old Sakura, ignoring my question to blab on about useless stuff… well…_

Kakashi quickly looked over her shoulder at where the door was still shut. _No one needs to hear that last part, though._ Kakashi sweat dropped at the thought of the principle finding out about how he lost his last job. His face pummeled into the ground for his lack of honesty would not be a pretty sight.

And here stood the main cause of his recent job loss, Sakura Haruno. Had it not been for her… smuggling of certain book brands… in trade for money out of his own pocket… he wouldn't have gotten into that whole ordeal at all.

Oh yes, the trafficking of 18+ material had been going on in a middle school. How, you may ask? Kakashi had no clue in it himself, all he knows is that he became a part of it simply because of his admiration for the Icha Icha series and these school dealers offered discounts and traded out new releases every Monday and this old pervert just couldn't help himself.

Why did he have to lose his job?

Dealing with middle schoolers had been so much easier than teaching high schoolers. At least the younger generation was intent on learning new things, they stopped trying once they got to high school. Well, he had expected all but one to turn out this way… That one person being Sakura.

Why was she here anyway? ...And why was she licking his hand?

Kakashi quickly retrieved his palm and unconsciously wiped it on his pants sleeve. Sakura whistled innocently and covered it with a large smile. Kakashi sweat dropped.

"So Sensei–"

"Shouldn't you be in the gymnasium?" Kakashi quickly asked before raising a questioning brow. "The opening assembly should begin in about… 10 minutes."

"Just enough time for the deed to be done." Sakura unknowingly withdrawled loudly, clutching her stomach in the process.

"Um, I've been meaning to ask but you don't look too good. Do you need help getting to the nurse's office?"

BAM!

Sakura's head shot up at the sound of the door slamming open. In front of it was none other than the blonde and a not so willing red head.

Oh, and that other guy she totally forgot about.

"Why the hell," the blonde spoke lowly, taking slow, calculated steps towards the pinkette. Sakura gulped. "–Do you think, you can just get away with pushing over an _Akatsuki_ member without paying the consequence, yeah?"

"Oh you're such a wuss, Deidara." The silver haired male drawled, leaning against the door frame. "Fucking chasing after her just for that? I thought we were thinking the same thing–"

"Why are you even here, Hidan?" the blonde huffed, "You're always getting into things that don't involve you. This is between me and the pinky, yeah!"

"Then why is the puppet freak trailing after you like some little bitch?"

A low growl sounded from behind the two. "I would prefer if you called me by my name, unless you want to deal with my–"

"Your dolls don't do shit! Trying to threaten me with fucking little girl toys. Your fetish is beyond shit."

"Actually I was about to say my new…" Sasori narrowed his eyes at Kakashi, who in turn raised both eyebrows in surprise. "_Invention,_ I was able to accomplish in biology class last semester. Just one little prick of the finger and the fluids will enter your blood stream resulting in–"

"Yeah yeah yeah," the one named Deidara focused his attention back on Sakura. "Ignoring these two _freaks,"_ Sasori scoffed at that, muttering something about exploding clay under his breath, "I think your punishment for pushing me over should be much more… artsy."

Before Sakura could even blink the blonde retrieved a clay substance from his pouch. A wicked grin crossed his face.

"I'll hang you from the rooftop," he took one more step forward resulting in Sakura taking one backwards, "I'll wrap you up nicely in some clay," He took more steps forwards and Sakura continued moving backwards, "I'll massage it into your skin so you can get a nice feel of it, and more than just the flesh overtop your bones and anatomy will explode. How about it, yeah?"

Sakura bumped into Kakashi, and she looked up into his masked face with the most pleading gesture she could muster up. But alas, the look on his face was expressionless. It looked almost as if….

"This is just an everyday thing for me." Kakashi suddenly sighed, causing the hairs on the top of her head to get a nice waft of his warm breath. She leaned her back into his torso unintentionally, but he decided to pass it off as just a little girl scared and terrified by the older boys in her school. And she was begging for his help.

Kakashi, used to the whole scenario by now, gently nudged Sakura to the side and stood in front of the bomb enthusiast. This wasn't the first time hes had to deal with him threatening to blow up students, and they both knew this.

"Deidara, put the clay away and go back to the gym."

"And if I say no, yeah?"

"Deidara, you know what happens when you don't obey the rules."

"As far as I'm concerned, there's no rule in the school handbook that specifically states blowing up little girls isn't allowed, yeah."

"But causing harm to other students is definitely against the rules, neh?"

"It's for the sake of art!" He bellowed as he began contorting the white mush in his hands together. "Don't worry pinky, you'll become a master piece, yeah. And if you'd like i can make fireworks explode out of your organs."

Sakura felt like she was almost about to faint. How demented was this guy? She wasn't expecting much from transferring to this school, but her massive headache said otherwise. Plus she still really needed to use the washroom.

"Kakashi sensei." Kakashi looked over to Sakura after hearing her hushed tone. _I hope she knows everyone can hear her. Maybe I should ask her to leave the room before things get messy. _He thought, but was brought back from his consideration as a few sobs escaped her mouth.

"K-Kakashi..." She whined, arms wound tightly around her stomach. "About what you were saying before, can you take me to the nurse's office? I don't feel so good."

Which was true, her stomach was doing twist and turns and if she didn't hurry... well, you know. Plus, Sakura had a strong urge to spend more time with her sensei, in this short amount of time she has developed a strange admiration for him. She never noticed it in middle school, but maybe it's because she finally went through puberty and it was starting to take action.

Kakashi wrapped an arm around her shoulders, surprising the pinkette. _He smells like chicken._

Stop it, Sakura. Hormones are to blame.

Yes, the hormones in her system are tricking her to think Kakashi smells like chicken and chicken is one of her favorite foods thus if she were to not stay on her guard she could end up shagging her sensei.

Because he smells like chicken.

Sakura admits food would get her on her knees in an instant.

"Excuse us, gentlemen." He started guiding Sakura towards the males, snapping her out of her messed up thoughts. And not so nicely, pushed them out of the way. Hidan growled but didn't dare say anything about it.

Besides, Kakashi was probably the last teacher in this school he would want physically mess with.

Kakashi stopped midway out the door, and turned his head to narrow one eye in on Deidara. The blonde stood confidently, arms crossed returning a glare towards the grey haired man.

"I'll deal with you later, Deidara. For now, how about you and your buddies head on down to the gymnasium with the rest of your... gang."

Sasori was the first the head out into the hallway without turning back to wait for the others. He didn't seem like the patient type to Sakura. Hidan, being just as stubborn as the blonde, stood his ground in front of Kakashi.

"That assembly is a waste of my fucking time. Give me something else to do and I'll do it." Hidan smirked, awaiting Kakashi's answer.

Kakashi seemed to thoroughly be thinking about his request.

And Sakura didn't like it one bit.

As if her feelings were correct, Kakashi pushed her into the silver haired man.

Sakura gasped and scurried off of Hidan, disgusted by what had just happened.

"Take her to the nurse's office for me."

Sakura's eyes widened in the shape of saucers and she couldn't believe what her sensei had just said. He's putting her in the hands of... him?!

Sakura, desperate and sick and emotionally unstable. How dare he - no, how dare he just get rid of her like that?!

She wanted Kakashi, and Kakashi only!

That was the hormones speaking.

"Fuck no!" Hidan pushed her right back into Kakashi, who moved to the side.

Sakura fell right into the hallway and she thanked her lucky stars that the hallways weren't as full as before or else she would be stomped and spat on as she blended in quiet nicely with the floor.

Kakashi, as if blinded by what had just occurred, moved himself around Sakura's fallen form and pointed a finger at Hidan. "Look, do this for me and I won't speak a word of what just happened with Deidara there to the headmaster."

"Why should I give a fuck about what punishment this pussy receives?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head slowly and thoughtfully. "Because you're friends?"

Hidan laughed, catching everyone, even those in the hallway, off guard.

He laughed, and laughed... and laughed.

"Okay we get it, dipshit." Deidara slapped him over the head and Hidan winced, turning around with fists raised.

"You wanna go, pansy?"

"Come at me! I'll blow you to pieces, yeah!"

"Chill out, guys..." Kakashi sighed, tired of this whole ordeal and wanting it to be over and done with already. His initial plan had been to get rid of Hidan by getting him to take sakura to the school nurse and eventually Deidara would just follow after Sasori... but that didn't seem to have worked out.

So, he did the only reasonable thing he had yet to do.

And so, he ran. He ran for his fucking life. He ran as if all else depended on -

You get the jist of it.

Running away is always the option (in my book), so before Sakura had the chance to yell out to him, she stopped herself. Besides, she is guilty of doing that herself. Might as well let him get away with it... for now.

So she braced herself and sat off the ground, staring longingly at Kakashi's back as he ran and ran and ran.

He shoved, and shoved, and oops - I think he got pushed.

Sakura giggled.

Hidan and Deidara stared down at the pink haired girl who sat on the hallway floor, laughing as she clutched her stomach. The both didn't say it out loud, but they were both thinking the same thing. _What a freak._

**xxx**

If you listened close enough, you could hear Sasori scoffing from his seat on the bleachers in the gymnasium. Which was all the way on the other side of the building.

"What is it?" Itachi asked his seat partner.

"Nothing of importance." Itachi merely shrugged and turned back towards the empty stage. Things would be beginning soon and he was starting to wonder where the other members of the Akatsuki were. Not that it bothered him, it was just too... _quiet._

Sasori leaned back in his seat and thought of what Deidara and Hidan were currently doing.

**xxx**

Well currently, the both were bickering over a certain... pink haired female.

Deidara face palmed, turning away from the two. "Well, get on with it Hidan." Hidan quickly turned towards the blonde and growled ferociously.

"Yeah fucking right! I'm not taking her over to the nurse's office, no way in hell. That place is cold and wreaks of shit!"

"Actually," Sakura began, lifting herself up from the ground and dusting herself off. "Due to the influx of daily humans, the room is meant to keep the air conditioning cool and the smell is of anesthetics."

"Oh well look at you, smarty pants. Fucking gotta inform us of stupid ass shit–"

"Well I was hoping it would help you increase in IQ points. You don't seem to have many to begin with."

Deidara whistled lowly before leaning his back against the closed door. He smirked as he counted down on his fingers.

_1, 2, 3..._

_"What the fuck did you just say?" _

Sakura gaped up at the tall male as a dangerous glint sparked in his violet eyes.

Okay, maybe that was a bad idea. But the opportunity was there and gosh darn it, when Sakura has an opportunity to use the humorous part of her she's going to use it!

"Repeat what you fucking just said, pinky. I swear I'm about to blow."

"Need me to help you with that, yeah?"

"Shut up you little fucker!" Hidan suddenly turned his aggressive gaze towards the blonde who stood with a smug smirk.

"Anything to get you riled up, bastard."

"Hah!" Hidan chuckled loudly, "I'm gonna mess you up so fucking bad."

Deidara shifted his body to the side and swiftly turned his head as a fist collided with the door.

Did he just mean to bash his head in?

_woah woah woah woah woah_

"Violence is not the answer!" Sakura shrieked, quickly moving to stand in front of the blonde who's hands dangerously lingered over his pouch.

Sakura stood with her arms up, ready to shield him.

Hidan looked on in surprise, also noting the look of shock on Deidara's face as well.

Hidan stiffled a smirk, "Pansy needing protection from a freshman–"

"I'm actually a sophomore, you asshole."

"What did you just-"

"Oh for heavens sakes!" Sakura screamed, moving to stand directly in front of the silver haired male.

"You always have to say that one line, '_what did you just say?'_ You heard what I said! It's not intimidating in the least and at this point you need to go to the nurse's office more than I do if you have trouble with your hearing!"

Hidan was about to explode. Literally, and Deidara was slightly looking forward to it. Maybe if he gets the chance, he can slip a couple clay balls into his pockets to help out with that.

Hidan was mildly offended. And that's a first for him, usually he gets pissed off when someone insults him but it never hits his pride as hard as what the pinkette just said. And it annoyed him beyond means.

He didn't give a fuck that hitting a female is wrong. He's going to make her suffer, and _so much more._

But, before he could even speak a word a small feminine hand gripped onto his bicep and started pulling him down the hallway.

"See you, Deidara! I'm getting this guy some help!"

"Wait – what the fuck?"

Deidara looked on as the girl swerved through the hallway, pulling an unwilling Hidan along with her towards the nurse's office.

Okay, _that,_ he was not exactly expecting. Albeit, hilarious at the same time.

_What a strange girl..._

She interested him. Even though he was still angry that he never received an apology Deidara was willing to let it pass because of what she had just said to Hidan. _He was so pissed, it was great!_

Deidara continued observing as their bodies disappeared around a corner. A seething Hidan was being guided by a little girl half his size. It was laughable and he wish he took a picture to show the others. Hopefully Sasori would be able to imagine it since hes already seen what the girl looks like.

As if just noticing the red head was gone, Deidara looked left and right in surprise. _He actually left without me?_

It bothered him more than it should have.

...

How could he just leave him like that?

Deidara dismissed it and turned down the opposite hallway that lead to the gymnasium. _Hmph, whatever._

What interested him more at the moment was what the rest of his school year would look like, now that this random pink haired girl has appeared in his life.

Maybe blowing her up would be a bit wasteful. For once, eternity for the pinky sounded pleasant.

He wont tell Sasori that, though.

**xxx**

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**A/N: **...What the fuck did i just write


	2. Why Boobs Are Evil

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I do not own Naruto or its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Why Boobs Are Evil**

**xxx**

"Stop probing me with that – no, put that down. Why are you acting like such a kid?" Sakura muttered, swiping the popsicle stick out of the childish man's hand.

"Well what do you fucking expect? I'm bored as hell and I need something to do."

"Go look out the window and think about all the sins you've committed in life." Considering the short amount of time she's known Hidan, he must have a lot to think over.

It was supposed to be a joke on Sakura's part. A light hearted joke that was not to be taken seriously. Up until now Hidan had done nothing but insult and annoy the heck out of her. Sakura thought maybe she could make him laugh at something unrelated to herself (he sure loved the topic of 'pink hair'). But by the way his eyes widened and shot her a bewildered look; obviously she must have said something wrong.

Or he can't get a good joke.

Sakura assumed it to be the latter and took a huge gulp of her orange juice.

"Are you also a follower of Jashin?"

Sakura paused before taking another sip and stared back at the man with the same bewildered look over the juice carton.

_Hehe. He didn't swear that time._

As Sakura's mind circled around the prospect of him saying a sentence without a curse word embedded in there, her attention was quickly diverted to an attractive woman walking into the room, clipboard and pencil in hand.

"Hello, sorry for the wait. What can I help you both with today?"

"Damn, you're fucking hot."

From complete shock, Sakura spurted out some of her orange juice at Hidan's vile comment. Then, not being able to stop it, she started laughing.

The woman stood there awkwardly, and noticing this, Hidan took the time to size her up. Dark hair, large doe eyes, full lips, and…

"Huge ass tits."

**xxx**

"This is your fault."

"My fault? How is it my fucking fault? You're the one who laughed up a storm in the background."

"Exactly, I wasn't directly involved at all. I shouldn't even be here."

"Says the one who fucking spewed juice onto her _white _blouse!"

"…It was an accident, okay? I'll admit, you made me laugh at first. But guess who decided to let their gaze lower like a dirty little per–"

"If you were a man with a dick you'd have done the same thing!"

"What does having a dick got to do with anything? It's all about self-restraint and respect towards your elders!"

Hidan scoffed at this, "Yeah, because them wearing low v cut shirts isn't just asking for male students to ogle at their fucking tits."

"You know what, I'm done with this. I just want to go home and pretend my first day here never happened."

"Well it seems were stuck in this shit hole together, so get used to it."

…

Sakura sighed and leaned back in her chair. Having been seated next to a loud mouthed idiot for the past 20 minutes has been nothing but hell. Here she was, for the first time ever in her life, outside the school office, and not for the right reasons.

She admits to acting brash and, how should she word it? _Out-of-character_, since arriving to her first day at her new high school. It all began with the damn spicy food at 7:00 in the morning which lead to being chased by what she assumed to be older kids and ending up being stuck with the worse of them all. How had her life taken such a U turn so quickly? If her mother knew about this…

"The both of you," Sakura's head shot up at the new voice. "Please come in."

A man probably in his late forties held the door open, allowing the two to enter.

"Hidan, same procedure."

_Hidan is his name, huh?_

"Yeah yeah, whatever." He muttered. Not wanting to be told twice, he stuck his hands in his pockets and pulled them outwards. A couple loose change fell onto the floor, but he didn't seem to care.

After inspecting the rest of his pockets, the man turned to Sakura next. "Alright, do the same thing."

Sakura repeated Hidan's actions, earning a nod of approval.

"Alright, his office is on the far right."

Hidan, having already memorized the path, was walking away before the teacher had finished his sentence.

Sakura bowed slightly in embarrassment and ran after Hidan.

**xxx**

Sakura felt scrutinized under his intense stare, but held her ground. She wasn't a rebellious teen at all, and wouldn't allow the principal to degrade her down to the same level as Hidan…nor would she ever be sent to the principal's office again from this day on (some of the reason having to do with how fucking scary he is). But she couldn't change the past events, so might as well get this over and done with…

"Sir, I'll have you know that I had a grade point average of 98% in all my ninth grade classes last semester. I was the leader of six clubs and ran school activities throughout the year, all the while spending my lunch breaks and after school hours to prepare for such events. I never missed a single class or day of school and my school record for unkindly behavior was absolutely clean and untouched. I apologize for what happened in the nurse's office today and it was never my intention to make her cry and feel unsafe in the environment she places herself in everyday to help and treat students. While I will take some of the blame, you should be aware that it was _Hidan_ who made her cry and it was _Hidan _who touched her inappropriately and it was _Hidan _who prompted her to call school security to lead us down here to your office. With that, I would also like you to know that this will never happen again and the fact that I was together with Hidan was a rare occurrence and I assure you that I have not been influenced by his actions so watching me over the course of the upcoming semester will be absolutely unnecessary because as I said, this will _never _happen again."

Sakura took a deep breath and inwardly smirked. That was sure to get herself out of trouble.

The principal closed his eyes in concentration and leaned back in his seat with arms crossed. "Hidan," he muttered (more like growled) under his breath. "What's your verdict?"

Hidan all but smirked at the bald man in front of him. Sakura crossed her fingers that he wouldn't make up some tale and say she did something that she really didn't. Hell, she didn't like the guy, but the least he could do is fess up so that the punishment wouldn't be so extreme. Her stomach nearly dropped at his next words.

"Fuck you."

**xxx**

"I hate you."

"Love you too, princess."

He grinned devilishly as she walked ahead of him, arms crossed defiantly. If she could, she'd probably have hot air fuming out of her ears right then.

Sakura unclenched her fingers and stared down at the slip of paper in her hand. She had read over the printed letters several times already since leaving the principles office that she felt her brain was about to explode from just how horrified and humiliated she felt.

**_Community service hours needed to graduate: 100_**

_He added 60 hours to the regular required amount! _Sakura, in all sense of the word, was utterly pissed off. If 40 hours weren't enough, 100 was sure to occupy her already busy schedule. Juggling around her after school job plus school work was going to be a pain in the ass. If only she had completed her hours in 9th grade! It's not like she'd known she would be doing double the work once entering her new high school.

And it was all _Hidan's _fault.

If it were humanly possible, she gripped the paper much harder. Her nails dug into the skin of her palm but she clearly couldn't give a damn. Eyes focused on the hallway ahead of her, (leading where? She had no clue. She just had to get away from the principal's office and farther away from the gymnasium to cool herself off) her eyes narrowed into slits as she heard footsteps following her lead.

"Hey princess, don't ignore me!"

"I do what I want!"

She heard him snicker, "Damn, we've got a badass over here, and in the shape of a pink smurf."

Sakura decided to ignore that little insult.

Several minutes of aimlessly walking through the school passed before Hidan decided to open his mouth again, much to the displeasure of the pinkette.

"Hey, what's got you so riled up? Your shoulders are tense as fuck. Calm yourself, will ya?"

Sakura halted in her steps and turned her head to shoot the man over her shoulder a menacing glare. She wasn't going to hold herself back. "You just had to go and screw both of us over. Thanks to your snarky remark, he was _kind _enough to punish me as well!"

_Calm, Sakura. He's just trying to get a reaction out of you._

With a dignified raised chin, Sakura turned her gaze away from the man and walked ahead with her head held high. _CHA! Take that, asshole!_

"Hey, let's get these community hours together, considering the fact that you fucked up way more than I did."

A flame ignited in her. She blew up.

_Score._

Hot. It was the only thing running through Hidan's head. As he watched the pinkette continue to rage on about how much he fucked up and deserved to go to the depths of hell where he belonged, his focus for the most part was on her cute little bosom which swung sensually (unintentionally) side to side as she walked. Her skinny jeans looked amazing on her short form but heck, he hadn't noticed it before, but she lacked the proper school dress code. All students are required to wear a colour coordinated blue and white striped uniform throughout the school year, which while at first Hidan was pissed off at, came to just accept it, as long as he could still don the symbol of Jashin around his neck. Other than that, he didn't give a damn. Although… considering the fact that girls have to wear ridiculously short skirts and knee high socks which seriously, if worn on any specific person, immensely turned him on.

Now he was imaging Sakura wearing it and could feel the drool escaping his mouth. He could just picture her ass and white panties peeking out from under the blue flared skirt and her smooth, creamy pale legs…

"How come you don't have the school uniform?" He blurted out. Had he meant to ask that? _Whatever, she won't fucking question it._

Sakura made no move to stop in her tracks again to answer, "I'm still waiting for it to be mailed to me." Hidan wasn't sure if he was glad that she couldn't see him continuing to ogle her behind, or glad that she didn't completely blow up at him for spacing out and ignoring her whiny ranting.

Sakura on the other hand observed him from the corner of her eye. He was used to this, wasn't he? He must now know that she wasn't. Causing a huge mess and pulling others into it. It pissed her off beyond compare. She must have been high off her mind to think that taking him to the nurse's office with her would have been a good idea. Now that she thought about it, the whole morning had been nothing but her acting recklessly. Getting sent down to the principal's office was a huge wake up call for her. No more getting involved in stupid shit, she was here to learn and get the education she deserved. There was no way that she would be steered off track and–

Red. Purple. Wait no, the whole fucking rainbow. Times that by 4, and add in a couple unicorns and bunnies in the background standing around a hole to wonderland. In other words, way better than fruit loops and vampire diaries.

Okay, _now_ she was high.

"Oh my god," She darted to the activity/clubs bulletin board. There was no mistaking it. It had to be it.

_Student led group: Yaoi Fanclub_

_Admission requirement: Bring along a hot guy!_

It had been her calling. _This_ was what caught her attention in the new student pamphlet. A group dedicated to her number one pass time…

Sakura's eyes stayed glued on the poster. She had to get in, and she knew just who would help her do it.

Hidan, having caught on pretty quick, followed her gaze. Hell no.

"Hidan, I know how you can repay me."

"I never said I would do shit to repay you!"

"So you admit that you were in the wrong and that you owe me."

"When did I even – fuck this shit! I'm out!"

"Hidan!" Sakura whined. She knew she shouldn't be begging – Hidan, of all people. But there was no denying the fact that he was an attractive Senior student and if she were to present him to the club leaders she'd be accepted in no time!

Or at least, that's what she expected to happen-

"I said fuck no!"

-and now he wasn't allowing her entry into her fantasy land! This is what she dreamed of every day and night, a club full of people just like her. A place she could call a second home. It's where she was meant to be and there was no fucking way Hidan would mess this up for her.

Was she being selfish? Maybe a little bit. Did she care? Absolutely not.

"Hidan…" Sakura sighed out his name for maybe the 50th time since morning. "Please, this is all I will ever ask of you. After this I'll never bother you again until you graduate!"

"I'm going to need something in return." He said immediately, allowing his upper body to fall against the bulletin board with arms crossed. Suspicious indeed, but Sakura was way too out of it to take notice.

Well, that was a quick turn of events.

"Whatever it is, I'll do it!"

"Anything?"

"_Anything!_"

A smug smile tugged at his lips.

"Firstly, give me your cell number."

Sakura all but reluctantly pulled out her phone and allowed him to enter his own number into her cell. He called his own phone to make sure he got the number as well. _Che, he knows I would never call him on my own._

"Next," he grinned as he watched her eyes follow the movement of the hand that still held onto her phone. "I'm going to need your house address."

Sakura's mouth opened in shock, "Are you purposely trying to make yourself out to be a stalker?"

"Maybe, but it's all for communication reasons."

Sakura breathed in through her nose and shut her eyes. Why is she even doing this?

_For yaoi._

That definitely justifies why she's letting Hidan use her.

"Well? I'm waiting."

"F-fine!" Sakura mentally slapped herself for stuttering in front of him. She snatched her phone out of his hand and hastily sent him a direct text including her street and house number. She pressed send and scoffed at the daringly smug smirk that graced his lips as a buzzing noise came from his pocket.

He looked a bit _too_ pleased with himself.

"And now the final request-"

Sakura groaned. "There's more?!"

"Don't worry, you won't be so reluctant to hear this shit… it'll be fun as hell." Ignoring Sakura's very unsatisfied whining, He pulled out his cell and glanced over the time, "We've got a couple minutes. Follow me."

Sakura broke out of her daze and started jogging up behind the man. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to fuck shit up!" He laughed as Sakura let out another groan.

"Hidan, im not doing this right now. We were literally inside the principles office receiving a lecture not even 10 minutes ago! What makes you think I would willingly-"

Her speech was cut short as a large hand slapped over her mouth. She muffled in protest but quieted when she heard footsteps rounding the corner.

Hidan cursed under his breath but all Sakura could think about was how different his hand tasted. Unlike Kakashi's chicken flavored palms, Hidan's sent her taste buds into overdrive. It was strange, and a bit metallic… probably blood. Plus with him so close to her body, he was emitting heat and he smelled like sweat…

His palm drifted away from her mouth but before she could utter another word she was being pulled into a classroom – actually, "pulled" isn't the appropriate word. It was more like she was picked up and thrown into a vacant classroom.

Luckily she landed on soft carpet, cushioning her fall just a tad bit. She shot the silver haired demon a glare the minute he turned back to her after shutting the door. "What the hell! Why did you-"

"That bitch Tsunade." He sighed, rubbing his cheek. Sakura wondered if he'd noticed that she kinda just licked that hand.

She decided she would keep that to herself.

"Who's Tsunade?"

"The scariest damn woman in this building." Sakura was surprised by his response. And to think, he made himself out to be this tough, aggressive dude but suddenly he's shivering at the thought of running into some woman.

Sakura smirked, "What's wrong with her? I thought you liked women."

"Oh, she isn't just any woman. But anyway, that doesn't matter right now. We need to get this show on the fucking road!" Sakura's eyes followed Hidan as he walked around her and began rummaging behind the teacher's desk. "Um, shouldn't you not be touching anything in there?"

"Bitch, you've known me long enough to know I don't give a fuck."

Sakura grimaced. She was sure in for a whole lot of hell, wasn't she? Oh yeah, about taking high school more seriously again? Yup, not while a Yaoi fancub existed.

The shit she does for yaoi.

**xxx**

* * *

**A/N: **Firstly, let me answer **candypop96's** question. _"Will there be romance?"_ well, I wouldn't have put the romance category if I hadn't planned on adding some romance in ;)

But seriously, I'm super bad at romance so give me some time. I haven't written anything romantic in my stories yet so I'll need to get the hang of it, ye know? Gotta develop some of these relationships so it's not super awkward. And don't worry, I won't have the romance begin at THE VERY END OF THE STORY LIKE MOST PEOPLE DO. I honestly hate that. You get me all excited and what, suddenly the stories over?! You're about to make me cry. But yea, there will be romance. Between who? Who knows, I don't know yet hahaha.

Secondly, sorry for lack of other characters/akatsuki in this chapter. Hidan is just way too much fun to write.

Thirdly, so I originally planned on making each chapter similar in length, but this is about 1k words shorter than the last chapter. It's already late enough so I just thought whatever, might as well fix it up and upload it. I don't know about you, but as I was reading through this it's probably not as funny as the last chapter. Of course there's Sakura's rising obsession for yaoi and her (mission?) to lick every single person in the school's hand, but i'm generally not a very humorous person anyway. I'm just going with the flow, you get me? Also yes, chapter titles will all be weird as fuck because I choose a title right after finishing writing and the first thing that pops in my mind is what it becomes. I feel like I had more things to say but I forget, so I'll just end this note here. Thanks for reading!


	3. Badass Spy

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Badass Spy**

**xxx**

"Please welcome your student body president and vice president; Pein and Shikamaru!"

A certain blonde haired boy yelled out from the stands of the gymnasium, "I'll be taking your spot soon enough, dattebayo!"

Shikamaru sighed, deciding that thinking about which of the two Naruto was referring to would just further irritate the headache coming on.

"You idiot!" Ino shrieked, slapping the poor boy over the head. "As if _you _could ever take Shikamaru's spot! That position is way out of your league."

"Ino, now calm down. Its fine for Naruto to have goals that he strives to achieve, even if him achieving them would be pretty far fetched..."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in annoyance as he watched his sensei walk over to his group of friends. "Kakashi-sensei!" he groaned, causing the silver haired man to chuckle lightly.

"This is boring," Kiba muttered on the other side of Naruto. "But hey, at least we're missing first two periods for this shit."

"I don't care about that!" Naruto stood up from his seat, catching the attention of the students sat around him. "All they do is praise the president and vice president during these things and don't even get to the important stuff. Like seriously, I've been wondering about when football tryouts would be and-"

Tenten briefly cut him off, and to the relief of everyone who at this point, had gotten annoyed by his constant whining. "That reminds me!"

Naruto sat back down with a huff as Tenten pulled out her phone and showed the screen to numerous curious eyes. They all squinted as they tried reading the texts relayed between Tenten and some other person. "Sakura goes here now!"

Kiba piped up immediately, "You mean Sakura Haruno? As in, that pink haired girl with the huge forehead? Hey Ino! Why didn't you tell us sooner!"

"As if I would have known something like that!" She muttered, swiping the phone out of Tenten's hand and reading through the texts. "We haven't talked since middle school graduation..."

"What high school did she go to last year anyway?" Naruto asked, quite curious as to where his first ever crush had disappeared off to freshman year.

Ino replied with a hint of jealousy in her tone, "She obviously followed after Sasuke-kun to that weird ass school... what was its name again?"

"King Serpent High School, near the downtown area."

All eyes shot up at Kakashi-sensei's voice. He was leaning against the wall beside their group, not meaning to eavesdrop but managing to do so anyway. He had perked up at Sakura's name. After all, he had seen her not too long ago...

Wait, why wasn't she here yet?

"I saw her this morning..." He took his time to explain, already having a hard time grasping at the idea of that pink haired minx showing up in his dull life again. "I sent her to the nurse's office with Hidan-"

"Wait, is she okay?!" Naruto stood back up again, earning a couple "shh!" remarks from nearby teachers. Kakashi crinkled an eye at the cranky old teachers in apology before waving his hand for Naruto to sit back down. "She's perfectly fine, just a stomach ache. She was probably nervous to see you all again."

_Or she got off into trouble with those Akatsuki kids..._

Now Kakashi was slightly regretting leaving her in their care. Sure, she wasn't his all time favorite student, but she was a student none the less and he was sure the principle would have his head for throwing a pure hearted teenage girl into the Akatsuki situation. Those kids sought out nothing but trouble, and they did it so expertly that Kakashi could understand why they weren't kicked out yet.

They hid their tracks expertly, and while most of the chaos they cause can be obviously traced back to them, there is never solid proof. Not even Deidara's obsession for exploding things can be blamed on him because certain members of the group know how persuade the principle quite easily.

Kakashi caught eyes with their leader, ignoring the fact that his stare sent shivers down his back.

_Him, _especially.

"Kakashi, my arch nemesis and rival! How are you?"

Kakashi's revealed eye looked over at the man stood next to him. "Gai."

It took a moment for Kakashi's thoughts to render through before he looked back at his old time friend with a questioning stare. "What is it you need?"

He knew him well. Gai was put on duty of monitoring the halls during the opening assembly to guide any late or lost students to the gym. So the fact that he was here...

"Aha..." Gai's threw a thumbs up in Kakashi's direction, earning a crooked smile in return. "I'm in need of your help, old time pal!"

"What is it?"

"I lost my keys."

"..."

"..."

"Your car keys?"

"No, the keys to all the rooms in the school..."

"How do you even-"

"No time to squander!"

Kakashi was immediately pulled down the steps of the bleachers, catching the attention of Naruto.

"Hey sensei - and bushy brow sensei! Where are you both going?"

Kakashi had no time to reply as he was too occupied with trying to release his violated hand from Gai's grasp. Gai called out to the blonde with a charming smile, "To the teacher's lounge!"

**xxx**

"Hidan, why are we in the teacher's lounge?"

"I liked it better when you kept your mouth shut, pinky. Just give me a fucking second to just find something…"

Sakura groaned, but decided to comply with his wishes. After all, this was part of the deal. She would go along with who-knows-what and then she'd get her free pass into the Yaoi fanclub!

But as she obediently sat back and continued to watch him search every inch of the room, worry started to bubble in the pits of her stomach. She felt something incoming. And no, it wasn't the diarrhea making a comeback. She had made sure to make a pit stop to the actual washrooms before going to the nurse's office.

"Shit-"

"I told you not to say shit!"

Yes. She still had a fear of any words that related to human _feces._

Hidan thankfully decided not to reply with some snarky remark as he was so accustomed to do so. He figured setting the pinkette into another rage would prolong the preparations for his ultimate prank, and they didn't have much time left.

After finding the keys in the classroom that belonged to some dumbfuck (seriously, who leaves their keys out in the open like that?) Hidan, with Sakura trailing after him, had used the keychain to open the door to the vacant teachers' lounge. How would Hidan have known which key belonged to which door? Well, his mother had bitched at him for not getting involved in extra curricular activities and spending all his time with "those Akatsuki brats" every day. Finally having enough of her whining, he had volunteered for hallway monitor in his first year of high school and spent lunch breaks and during classes he could care less about on watch for any wandering students in the halls. Eventually he realized he had way more power than a freshman hallway monitor should possess, and frequently abused those privileges. He snuck into private cabinets and offices around the school and once even got Itachi to use the principles computer to change his exam score.

_Ahh, freshman year…_

He still was a badass. Sure, he only had 1 year left before he would get out of this shithole, but he would be sure to make it count. He was going to torture every single annoying teacher in this building, and probably just set the whole damn school on fire. Whatever it would take to make up for all 4 years wasted on attending this place every single day. And oh dear Jashin if he doesn't manage to graduate…

Sakura watched unamused as Hidan yelped in pain. He was rummaging through cabinets again, and if Sakura didn't know any better he probably did that during his spare time as well.

"I jabbed my damn finger on a needle!"

"So? Just hurry up and get what you need-"

_Knock! knock!_

Sakura visibly paled. She looked behind herself at the locked door.

_Knock! Knock!_

"Oh god." Sakura quickly looked around for a place to hide.

"You mean Jashin."

Sakura mentally face palmed. He began to laugh.

"Shutup!" She hissed, taking cover under a computer desk, pulling the black swivel chair right in front of her. Not much coverage, but it would do.

Hidan shrugged his shoulders and lay himself across one of the many couches strayed across the teachers' lounge. "Who's at the door?"

"Doesn't matter! You're going to get caugh-"

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

More aggressive knocking.

"Hide already!"

"Why should I? Wait, is it a teacher? Damn." As if finally coming to his senses, he quickly hopped off the couch and started clearing the mess he made.

"Who else would it be? All the students would still be in the gymnasium right now. How are we going to get there? Oh god we're going to get caught and sent to the principal's office again… I can't deal with this again. What do we-"

"Stop talking and get going!"

Sakura had no time to speak before she was roughly hauled out of her hiding spot. She screamed and kicked and did all she could to be back in her safe haven but it was no use.

Sakura growled the minute she caught her balance and tried getting him to release her arm, but to no avail. "What are you doing!"

He smirked. He liked it when she got mad. The way her face scrunched up and her light eyebrows furrowed was cute. But not now, right now, they still had a prank to pull and there was no way another damn teacher would get in his way.

Hidan _always_ completed his pranks.

Sakura sighed, blowing the hair that fell over her face during her little episode. "So what's the plan?"

"Well, it's a dead giveaway that we're in here by now thanks to your loud ass screaming."

"I didn't mean to…" She began to blush. "Okay whatever, so what do we do now?"

_Knock! Knock! _

A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes. "What else? We run down the fucking door!"

His plan took a minute to fully digest in her brain. Then, she scoffed.

"Are you crazy! You're going to run down the teacher on the other side of the door if you do that! I swear to god-"

Sakura yelped as his still existing hold on her elbow tightened. "-You mean Jashin."

"Stop going off topic! What we need now is a reasonable plan to get us out of here!"

Hidan mulled over her words as he glanced at the door. Soon enough that teacher will call someone with another set of keys to open it and they would be caught.

But then, he smirked in realization.

"Hey pinky, can you scream for me again?"

Sakura blushed at the intent behind his words. "Oh no way am I going to do that. I'm not giving this guy the wrong impression!"

"Babe!" He laughed at the way her eyes widened a fraction. "What if someone sees us?"

"What are you saying-"

Her words were cut off by another slap of the palm over her mouth.

"Damn you're so fine! Whisper sexily in my ear again!"

_"__I'm not even!"_

"You want to what? Can you repeat that again?"

_"__I'm not - mph!"_

Her words were muffled and she felt like a dog slobbering all over his hand as she tried putting words together. Her lips were smushed against his palm and despite the grossness of it all he still had that damn arrogant smirk plastered across his face.

"Fuck, you're so dirty!"

_Goddammit Hidan!_

She felt molested. Then again, he's probably not 18 yet. And there's also the fact that she didn't care about Kakashi slapping his hand over her mouth not even an hour earlier. Why did he do that again? Whatever, he still did it while she was caught off guard in an empty classroom, plus he's probably 10 years her senior!

But he _did_ taste like chicken.

_I wonder if other parts of his body also taste like chicken… better yet, his lower region-_

_Snap out of it Sakura!_

"Yo bitch, you deaf or something?"

Sakura quickly came back from her thoughts to a surprising scene.

Hidan, being the damn pervert he made himself out be, still had his hand gripped tightly over her forearm, but thankfully he had released his other hand from her mouth. Her lips felt numb but she ignored the sensation as her attention diverted to the new person in the room.

Handsome. That's the first thing that came to mind as she admired the tall orange haired man. He had piercings in the most abnormal of places on his face, but they were unique and somehow suited him. His bright eyes stood out the most, and from there Sakura felt herself being reeled in by the intensity in them.

"Hidan," his voice was monotone, "What is the meaning of this?"

"What do you think?"

"Well from my understanding, you two were supposed to be back in the gym 30 minutes ago after stopping by the office. Care to explain why you decided to wander off?"

"You're not my fucking mother." Hidan groaned, scratching the back of his head. If Sakura's eyes weren't deceiving her, his posture suddenly changed. He looked stiff in place, as if he was embarrassed to have been caught by this orange haired guy. Had it been some teacher, he surely would have flipped them off and ran out the school howling in laughter. But nope, he stood there as stiff as a block of wood.

So, who was this guy?

_Can I have his powers?_

Sakura's eyes drifted to the man's face once again. His lips were pursed in sheer annoyance.

"Why are you in the teachers' lounge anyway?" He spoke again, the deepness in his voice carrying itself around the room. "I'm almost positive you were stripped of any school keys years ago, Hidan."

"Dammit Pein, what the fuck do you want?"

_Pein._ It sort of suited him, considering the fact that just the sight of his piercings felt painful. How did he have the guts to do all that? The strange jewelry pushed Sakura to believe he had pierced them all himself.

_I wonder if he has any tattoos…_

"I want sent looking for you two," His eyes slowly scanned over the petite girl standing next to Hidan, "-by Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura felt giddy at the thought of Kakashi sending her help. He must of known she wouldn't survive in the presence of this _beast. _

Whether he sent help over his own free will or he had been forced to didn't matter. _He cares about me!_

"So you two can stop… whatever you were doing in here and attend the opening ceremony. It's still going on and it's partial that you be there for at least the last 40 minutes. Lunch will begin soon."

_First two periods of the day felt like forever..._

_Ahh, but the fact that Kakashi acted like such a hero makes up for it..._

Sakura was still in her own world fangirling over Kakashi-sensei saving her before Pein's words finally settled in her head.

_What does he mean-_

Then she realized he had heard everything.

_Even _her scream.

Sakura felt her arm be released from Hidan's hold as a blush bloomed over her face. She swiftly held her hands over her mouth.

She felt _his _eyes on her.

Sakura wanted to hide in a hole and cry and never come out.

Hidan, totally oblivious to her mini freakout, scoffed loudly. He took one look at Pein before walking around him and exiting out into the hallway. She had a feeling he wouldn't actually go to the gymnasium.

No wait, now she was alone with Pein! Could it get any worse?

"I-" Sakura gulped. Pein looked at her expectantly with raised eyebrows. He obviously could see the blush she was trying so hard to cover.

"I – no, me and Hidan. Nothing… nothing like that happened!" She waved her arms around loosely in all directions, "I swear, please trust me!"

"Quiet."

Her lips locked shut and her eyes widened slightly. An awkward silence loomed over the air and she was feeling quite anxious.

Now she understood why Hidan had acted that way. This guy, even though she could tell he wasn't a teacher, had a natural authority to him. You almost feel like you _have _to listen to him and do as he says. It made him all the more intimidating.

He's definitely nothing like Hidan.

Sakura squirmed in her spot as his staring intensified. When would he say something? This was just getting awkward. This was now the third guy she was alone with in a room today. She was seriously going to get violated if she wasn't careful enough. This was still a new school and new environment for her, and she barely knew what the kids here were like. But from the looks of it, they came in all shapes, colours, and personalities.

It slightly frightened her what she would come across next.

While in her thoughts she hadn't notice Pein step closer to her.

_I really need to pay more attention to what's going on..._

He took another step, and Sakura had the urge to take a step back. _Please not another Deidara. That guy was a freak!_

But she stood her ground. No, she wouldn't let him have the upper hand here. She had been reliant on Kakashi for the most part of today, and had been tossed around by Hidan's poor choices, but now… now she would step up. She had the guts, but apparently showcasing her abilities was difficult when in the presence of such handsome men…

_Okay never mind, don't mind me taking more baby steps backwards..._

Alas, she hit a dead end and her back was now straight and flat against the wall. Pein noticed this and took slower strides closer.

He was suddenly only a few inches away from her and she felt like she couldn't breathe. Oh that's right, maybe because he was _fucking choking her!_

Long slender fingers pressed closely to the pressure points on her neck. She sweat dropped.

"Relax," he murmured, ignoring the way she squirmed and beated at his chest. "I just have a question to ask."

_Yes, because when you want to ask a question you first must grab their neck? This guys logic..._

Yep, definitely related to Deidara.

His proximity didn't bother her in the least. What was worrying was the lack of air making its way through her lungs.

There was obviously something wrong with the fact that he could look so composed while nearly strangling someone to death. She _definitely_ hadn't seen this coming.

_I can't believe I called him handsome._

Sakura cracked an eye open.

_No wait, he still is. Just a bit of a lunatic, is all…_

The door was still wide open right behind him, thankfully. She just needs to...

Suddenly the pressure tightened and she squeezed her eyes closed.

_What do I do? What do I do!? Dammit Sakura, think! Ugh but i__t's so hard to think when I can feel his breath literally fanning over my face..._

_I think he had eggs for breakfast._

Alright, she needed a plan.

Firstly, she needed to call 911. Then…

"I'm waiting."

Sakura let both her eyelids flutter open. Despite how easily the situation could turn in his favor, she stared him down.

"You didn't even ask a question yet, you dumbfart."

Okay, stupid insult. Could she seriously not have come up with something better?

The surprise reflected on his face and Sakura awaited the snap of her neck. Surely by how quickly his demeanor had changed he would take a step further and let his anger be shown. He'd be pissed off and let loose and just get rid of her right than and there. He would probably then hide her body in a ditch he dug up in the school garden and by how poorly the plants looked taken care of, the mess would be unnoticeable and her body would never be found.

As this all played in her head she panicked. How could she be so unperturbed at this revelation? _She was going to die!_

She wouldn't be able to say goodbye to her mom and dad. She wouldn't be able to snuggle and be brutally bit by her cat once more. She didn't even finish the last season of 'Lost' goddammit!

She hadn't even gotten into the Yaoi club yet!

She had so much more to do, so much more to offer to the world. Sakura Haruno would not die this way! She was barely 16 yet!

As all this played in her head, she felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She shut her eyelids and waited for it, knowing this would be her way out and there was nothing she could do against him.

Pein's eyes followed the stream of a tear slither down her cheek and drip onto his wrist.

His fingers unwrapped themselves from around her neck and reached up to wipe any incoming tears. Her eyes shot open in shock.

"Wha-"

His face reflected no emotion. Her eyes searched and searched, but found no clue as to why he had stopped. She dropped to the floor, relief washing over her form as she grasped her own neck.

"I was just going to ask if you knew of the Akatsuki," he sighed, "Obviously not."

_Akatsuki?_

Now that she thought about it, hadn't that Deidara guy mentioned that name earlier? He had said it to probably further threaten her, but she clearly had no idea what it was.

Now she was curious.

As Pein began twisting his fingers and standing idly close to her, she asked, "What's Akatsuki?"

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you honestly have no clue?"

"Nope."

_Well, she is new to this school. _Pein had clearly remembered seeing her picture as he leisurely scrolled through the student files that morning. She's a transfer from a neighboring school and has impressive marks. He hadn't thought much of her and moved on to stalking the other files, but the pink hair stuck.

So of course after reading her file and then walking into her doing god knows what with Hidan in the teachers lounge, he didn't know what to think. She seemed the innocent type, pure and sweet and her grades reflected her work ethic. He hadn't expected Hidan of all people to take an interest in her, but really, expect the unexpected when entering this god awful school.

That's when he became suspicious. She had a strange look to her, and despite her blatant personality switch (from blushing red as a tomato to cursing him out) she had been in the presence of more than one Akatsuki member today. Now, walking by any of them in the hallway is completely normal, but she had sparked conversations with Deidara, Hidan, and now himself and the fact that Sasori also held interest in the way he talked about her spoke many volumes.

He then remembered the school she transferred from, and that just made it all the more suspicious.

Maybe grabbing her in a neck hold had been a bit too sudden, but she's shown many signs as to being a _spy_ that he couldn't help himself.

He offered a hand out to her, letting a small smile take over his face. Now he just felt bad. Turns out, she knows nothing about Akatsuki. The way she asked held nothing but curiosity behind it and he decided to not suspect her any further.

She eyed his hand warily before placing her own small delicate hand into his palm. He gracefully lifted her off the floor and she muttered a short thanks. She awkwardly played with the hem of her shirt once realizing he still stood pretty close to her. She could smell his musky cologne and it smelt slightly pleasing.

"Akatsuki is a group." He spoke suddenly, catching her lowered gaze. "Don't mistake it for a student led group, though I'm sure we had a fanclub last year…" His sentence wandered off.

"But anyway, it's nothing special. The group consists of some friends I acquired through middle school until now. We label ourselves to distinguish ourselves from everyone else. You could say we're… special."

Sakura listened intently, pondering his words. Special in what way?

"That doesn't explain why you nearly strangled me just now…" She mumbled, diverting her eyes away from his piercing stare.

"Speak of that to no one."

Sakura whipped her head back to him as he begun walking back towards the door. She felt anger boil at the pit of her stomach as she regretfully called out, "Why!?"

He didn't stop to answer. She briskly walked after him.

He heaved a sigh, "I simply thought you were someone you're not."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"We have people looking at our every move. I jumped to conclusion a bit too suddenly when I saw you with Hidan."

"So Hidan is a part of the group? How does a dumbass like him..."

Pein let his eyes wander back down at her in amusement as she did her best to catch up with his long strides.

"But seriously, what's so suspicious about me? And can someone like Hidan honestly keep his mouth shut about whatever you keep hidden in your little group? You're all setting yourselves up for failure right there."

"You ask too many questions."

"I only asked two."

"What was it you called me last time..." He looked off into the distance, allowing an amused smile to take over his face. "Dumbfart."

"Oh my gosh," she covered her face in the same similar fashion as she did in the teachers lounge. "It sounds worse when you say it."

"I think what's worse is that you were caught in the act."

"I said it was nothing!" She nearly shrieked, earning a chuckle in response. "I already swore that nothing happened! Please believe me Pein-san!"

"Just Pein." He paused, "The suffix isn't necessary."

"But-"

"You heard me, right?"

Sakura's body turned cold at his serious tone. It's not like he was threatening her or anything, but his presence alone was quite frightening. She quite wondered what he was actually like when pissed off.

"Sorry." She muttered.

They continued walking through the halls, and Sakura wondered back to how different it felt to walk alongside Pein rather than Hidan. Pein stayed quiet for the most part, while Hidan loved to let his mouth run and insult her whenever he got the chance.

Are they seriously friends?

She didn't know it, but Pein would occasionally let his eyes wander over to her in pure curiosity. He admits, girls like her were definitely the type he kept his distance from. Bold, brash, loud, and overall annoying.

But she was slightly different, thankfully. Her presence was light and entertaining, but talking to her had its cons as he had to bite his tongue from further telling her anymore about Akatsuki. What made him tell her that much was beyond him.

He wondered if the other members who also ran into her also had the same thoughts as him, that with her around, things would now get slightly interesting at school.

As they began to turn down the hallway to the gymnasium, she stopped in her tracks.

Pein did as well, turning his head to look at her with raised eyebrows.

The blush from earlier had faded slightly, and instead a confident, yet playful smile was plastered over her face. His eyes raised to focus on her own bright jade orbs.

"So, you think I look like a badass spy?"

This would be an interesting school year, indeed.

**xxx**

* * *

**A/N:** WOOO, LONGER CHAPTER. Not by much, but i'm satisfied enough. Hopefully you are too. Things are getting interesting, neh? Hopefully its been entertaining so far because I really do enjoy writing this story! Yassss, Pein has arrived! Bow down and worship, because he's legit one of my fav akatsuki members and I love him so much!

There are plenty of questions you should be asking yourselves after this chapter ;)

Hope you enjoyed! See you next time!


	4. Welcoming Committee

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Welcoming Committee**

**xxx**

The tall walls of the open spaced gymnasium shook and carried the voices of those who spoke at the front. Many students spoke idly to their friends, ignoring the overall purpose of the opening ceremony. Sakura was currently one of them.

Sakura smiled nervously at the woman stood before her. Her gaze was kept on Pein as she greeted him and spoke. "Where's Hidan?"

_Knew it. Of course he isn't here._

"And who's that?"

Sakura was met with curious gold eyes. The girl had short blue hair which donned a paper flower. She was quite breath taking and Sakura was sure that if she swung the other way she would have a major crush on the woman in front of her right now.

"Sorry, that was a bit rude." She shook her head slightly and offered Sakura a small smile. "I'm Konan, a member of Akatsuki."

Sakura opened her mouth to introduce herself to the beautiful lady but was rudely interrupted.

"Is Kisame back yet?" Pein asked. Sakura noticed that he was still willing to stick by her side after already arriving to the gymnasium. She would have guessed he would shoo her off by now but maybe Kakashi gave strict orders for him to stay with her for a while longer.

On the other hand, once arriving to the gym Sakura had already felt obliged to continue walking alongside Pein to a section of the bleachers where she assumed the other Akatsuki members would be. As long as Hidan wasn't there, she didn't care where she sat. A part of her knew she was still only trailing after Pein because she honestly had no friends at this school yet and despite what happened in the teacher's lounge, being acquaintances with Pein was better than nothing.

"No, you're back quicker than expected."

"Ahh."

Sakura sorta zoned out as the two continued talking about something the pinkette could care less about. Looks like it's just the three of them. Maybe the other Akatsuki members were sat else where? _I kinda wanted to see what the rest of them would be like…_

Jade orbs casually scanned the packed gymnasium from the very back corner. Pein and his friend obviously weren't too interested in sitting in the bleachers which annoyed Sakura quite a bit. After everything that had gone down this morning, all she wanted was to sit down and relax even for just the 30 minutes left remaining of the opening ceremony…

Then again, its not like Pein was forcing her to stand with him. His job had been to just guide her back to the gym, as strange as it sounded.

Sakura pouted, more so to herself. _Does that mean Kakashi didn't want to personally come and rescue her?_

Ah, but it wasn't so much of a rescue, now was it? Sending an Akatsuki member to rescue her from another one would be seemingly pointless. Why was she involving herself with so many of them anyway?

Sakura looked back to the two stood by her side. Pein's expression looked softer than before, and less demeaning. His eyes never strayed from the blue haired lady as she continued the conversation on her own. It looked as though he drank in every word she spoke.

A small smile broke out on Sakura's face.

So handsome man has a soft side?

Sakura quickly looked away before she was caught staring. Though it wasn't an intimate moment, there obviously had to be something going on between them.

_Just like a shoujo manga…_

Sakura unconsciously shipped them.

Sakura always wondered what it would be like to fall in love. In anime, romance was always portrayed with lots of drama which is an aspect to it that Sakura would rather avoid.

On the other hand, there were many parts to it that Sakura mentally squealed over on a daily basis. Being confessed to on a winter cold night, holding hands to and from school, spending special holidays together, warms hugs and long kisses…

But unlike what she read in manga, Sakura knew the real thing was a lot more complicated. Falling in love would never take only two chapters, no matter how much she hoped for or shipped it.

As for herself, well, It's probably obvious for anyone to tell that she's never had a boyfriend or done anything slightly romantic. Unless you count the time she had to kiss Kiba on the cheek as a dare in 5th grade. Ino had blown the whole thing out of proportion and Sakura spent a whole week home "sick" from school because she couldn't face Sasuke right after it.

Yes. At a certain point in Sakura's life, Sasuke's opinion of her mattered more than oxygen. Which is a whole lot.

She had gone as far as to convince her parents to allow her to attend the same school as him even though it's much farther away from their house. Once she got her mothers approval she spent all of freshman year chasing after her false image of love for the Uchiha boy. He had cruelly rejected her a month before exams and she had been so heartbroken and unfocused that she achieved poor marks for the first time in her life. She cursed that wretched school (and Sasuke, for the most part) before dropping everything and redoing her courses in the summer. Her mother obviously hadn't been too pleased to see her exam results and completely disregarded the fact that she brought it upon herself, and instead blamed the school staff for "treating her precious daughter so poorly." Thus, Sakura came to the realization that there was no way she would sabotage her future all because of a small crush and worked hard to make a grand comeback to the high school all of her other friends decided to attend.

Now that she thought about it; she had literally turned her back on her true friends and followed after someone who only saw her as a tolerable seat partner. What had come over her to make such a decision? She deeply regrets it.

Sakura had texted Tenten while on her walk this morning that she would be attending Konoha high school starting today. Tenten hadn't replied as of yet, which worried the pinkette. Despite Ino being her long time best friend, she trusted Tenten way more and favored her slightly. They both had so much in common and throughout the years built a strong friendship. Sakura felt the guilt at the bottom of her stomach punch her in the gut when she realized how bad she felt for especially turning her back on the brown eyed girl.

Sakura unconsciously pulled out her phone and grimaced. Hidan had sent the first text of which she assumed would be many to come starting today.

**Hidan: yoooooo prank is still in full swing! i better see u in the cafeteria, or else that gay boy club won't be happenin princess!**

Sakura hastily replied.

**Sakura: Dude,** **you better not do anything that could hurt someone. I'm not going to just sit back in the quiet crowd and laugh just to make you feel better about yourself. Think about what you're about to do.**

**Hidan: pls, i have thought it over and made sure that the shitty ass principle deff wont get in my way. plus none of the other bitchy teachers like kakashi will b there so im safe**

Sakura scoffed, catching the attention of a pair of blue ringed orbs. Konan followed his gaze and also observed the pinkette with narrow eyes. They noticed she had drowned herself in her phone, like most teenagers these days.

**Sakura: How can you be so confident that everything will go according to plan? Also, you have some horrible grammar.**

**Hidan: like i give a fuck! **

**Sakura: Whatever, if you mess up I won't be helping. Don't even try to include or put any of the blame on me this time because I've got proof!**

**Hidan: whiny ass… you aint got the guts to show your phone to the damn principle LOL besides i've got the akatsuki on my side so its all good**

Sakura moved to reply but stopped as she noticed Hidan had sent a hasty followup to his last reply.

**Hidan: yo wheres pein can you tell him to turn on his phone? Fucking asshole doesnt want to answer my texts**

**Sakura: Let me guess; you expect your Akatsuki pals to help you but you've told no one of your plan yet?**

**Hidan: bulls eye.**

Sakura sighed as she gazed back up at the two Akatsuki members before her. She could of swore she felt them staring the entire time…

"Pein, Hidan wants you to reply to his texts."

"Is that who you're so engaged in conversation with?"

If Sakura were to over analyze his words she definitely could catch the underlying teasing in his tone.

"Yeah, I kind of regret giving him my number but I really had no choice."

Konan raised a delicate eyebrow, "You were forced?"

"No! It's not like that it's just…" Sakura couldn't help but turn her gaze to the gym floor to calm down the oncoming blush. "He's annoying and way too persistent. I asked him for a favor but obviously it came with a price."

They decided to drop the topic and Sakura mentally gave herself a high five.

Silence loomed over the trio. Sakura fidgeted in her spot.

Her position now was definitely more calming than it had been in the teachers lounge, but a part of her was slightly more intimidated by Konan. Surprising, since its not like she decided to strangle her upon sight unlike a certain person…

Sakura slightly jumped as he spoke, "Sakura, have you received your timetable yet?"

"No, I guess I haven't…"

"How come?"

Sakura nervously fiddled with the device in her hand, debating whether or not to reply to Hidan that Pein was making no move to turn on his phone. "I have no clue. I guess it's still being sorted out?"

"Would you like to…" He paused for a brief moment, managing to catch Sakura's full attention away from her phone. "Come with me after you've eaten your lunch, I'll get it for you and show you around to all your classes before fourth period starts."

Sakura scoffed. "Did Kakashi-sensei tell you to help me with that as well? I'm not completely hopeless, you know."

"I'm offering you my assistance, is there anything wrong with that?"

Sakura stopped herself before replying with something stupid, which she did quite often when being treated like she couldn't do things on her own. But this wasn't her mother or father, this was Pein, the dude who literally strangled her like 10 minutes ago. And now here he is, offering to do this for his own free will, which boggled Sakuras mind.

Sakura definitely could go to the office and receive her timetable without a problem, seeing as how she was there not too long ago. Lunch break goes for an hour and 20 minutes, so she has plenty of time to find her classes on her own as well. But something inside of her was pushing for her to accept his kind gesture and accept his help. But then again, maybe he would expect something in return like a certain Jashinist.

"Is there a catch?"

"Would you like there to be one?"

Sakura thought for a moment. "Yeah, or else you'll probably bring this up again sometime in the near future and demand I pay you back."

"Do I seem like that type of person?"

_Yes. _"Not exactly."

That rare occurring moment happened once again, and Sakura was staring at a small smile upon the usually stoic mans face.

Konan noticed this, and stared in surprise.

When was the last time she had seen her friend smile so openly? The way he carried his conversation throughout with the pink haired girl left Konan stunned.

_Hadn't he just met her? _

For most, a smile would seem like a gentle and simple gesture that can be offered towards anyone, but Pein is a whole other story. He always looks serious, and never opens up as easily as most others would with their friends. When she had seen him smile on rare occasions, it would look forced. But now…

She was quite jealous. Though she enjoys the conversations she has with Pein, she would feel like the luckiest person in the world to have him smile at her like that.

_What about this sophomore chick interested him so much?_

On the other hand, Pein hadn't realized his slip up before it was too late. He couldn't help himself from cracking a smile at the pinkettes choice of words. "Do not compare me to Hidan, or anyone else of that nature that you've met in your life. But, if you do want to repay me, then let me have some time to think about what I want from you."

Sakura nodded, watching the smile fade from his lips.

Right at that moment Sakura's gaze drifted to the students on the bleachers as the loud chatter of the students quieted. She noticed many eyes were focused on the teacher on the stage readying to make an announcement.

The man nodded once the gym had gone into a eery silence before opening his mouth. "Now that we have the credentials out of the way, we will talk about Fall sport season-"

Sakura felt her phone buzz in her pocket and reached to check, but a shout from the bleachers halted her action.

"Hell yeah! Sign me up for the football team, teacher!"

That voice. That annoying, obnoxious, loud voice. It has to be him, no doubt about it.

Sakura moved away from the safe confine of being hidden from view behind the bleachers. Pein's stare burned into the back of her head but she ignored it. She knew if she turned back, he would tell her not to make a scene.

That isn't exactly her intention. She just needed to see the source of that voice to make sure of it.

Right as her eyes met with bright orange, she jumped at the teachers voice making its way through the numerous speakers set up around her. "Naruto! Sit back down and pay attention!"

A smile unknowingly broke out on her face. That idiot! _Her _idiot is here!

She peeked through the railings of the bleachers, catching sight of other familiar faces. Tenten, Hinata, Neji, Kiba, Ino…

She felt giddy all of a sudden.

"I'm gonna become the football teams captain, believe it!"

_Clack!_

"Owww, Ino! You didn't have to hit me so hard…"

"When Sakura's not here to do the job, I have the right to do so!"

There was no venom in Ino's voice as she brought up her name. It calmed down Sakura's nerves slightly.

Sakura was too entranced to feel the presence of someone walking right up to her. She jumped as a soft chuckle reverberated from behind. "Wha-"

Her eyes widened as she was gently pushed out into the open. Naruto quickly caught sight of her.

"S-Sakura-chan?"

Sakura offered a weak wave before turning to glare at the man behind her.

"You didn't have to blow my cover." She whispered harshly, not paying much attention to his strange orange mask. She sighed, turning back around to be only met with hundreds of curious eyes.

_Well damn, this is awkward._

"Tobi is helping out a friend." He whispered into her ear. His hot breath sent goosebumps down her neck.

"Students of Konoha, welcome Sakura Haruno!" He spoke loudly, putting much emphasis on the girl in front of him by shaking her stiff shoulders to and fro. "She's really cute and nice and cool and awesome and all that good stuff, ye know! Tobi really likes her!"

_Who the heck is Tobi?_

"Plus she's new here and wants to make lots of friends, so be kind because shes got us watching out for her!"

Sakura felt utterly embarrassed. Her phone buzzed again, but she could care less at this point.

Sakura pushed the hands on her shoulders off and turned to the teacher at the front. She bowed quickly, "I'm very sorry, I'll go sit back down."

He nodded, slightly pissed but glad she made the move to remove herself from further making a fool of herself.

Sakura thanked her lucky stars once the eery silence had dissipated and students were once again talking topics unrelated to her. She wasn't that interesting, it seemed.

She obediently sat on the ground at Pein's side, embarrassed and also ashamed that she didn't listen to her gut instinct that told her not to do it.

This reminded her of when he strangled her and she fell to the ground. She would rather be in that position than the one was in right now, to be honest.

Pein gazed down at her in slight amusement. He decided to not bring it up and instead put his sole attention on the mask wearing child in front of him.

"Tobi, what was the meaning of that?"

"Tobi was helping Hidan."

Sakura's head shot up at his name. "Hidan?"

"Yeah!" Tobi nodded furiously, clapping his hands in enjoyment. "He wanted Tobi to stall him some time and Tobi didn't know how else to do that so Tobi introduced Sakura-chan to everyone!"

"Yeah, thanks…" She muttered.

"But wait, why are you stalling Hidan some time?"

The words barely made it out of her mouth before a horrendous explosion blasted through the far wall of the gymnasium. Screams and shouts could be heard as everyone panicked at the smoke erupting from the blast.

But all she could hear was that same laughter belonging to a certain demonic bomb enthusiast.

Sakura hoisted herself up from the floor, shooting Pein a worried glance. "Is that…"

Pein gripped his forehead in agitation. "Those two..."

She was surprised she hadn't put two and two together. Deidara is also a part of the Akatsuki, it seems. So the other person Pein would be referring to is...

Sakura gasped and quickly pulled out her phone, covering her face with her other arm to avoid inhaling the smoke.

_Sent 9 minutes ago_

**Hidan: change of plans, i dont need peins fucking help. that opening ceremony is taking way too fucking long so im gonna give everyone including pein a good show! watch out, princess**

Well, damn.

A roaring motor could be heard over the frantic cries of the students running off the bleachers. Sakura squinted her eyes, trying to see the source of the noise.

All of a sudden a huge motorcycle blasted through the smoke, flying through the air before landing straight onto the stage. The teacher ran off in a frenzy, causing the man on the bike to laugh.

That egotistic laugh was also familiar. And by the way Pein stood his ground glaring at the man, she knew it had to be him.

He removed his helmet, whipping his sweat drenched locks back and forth. Deidara jumped onto the stage beside him, taking in the destruction he had caused with only one blow.

"Welcome to another year at Konoha High School, bitches!"

**xxx**

* * *

**A/N: **Oh Hidan. Bringing the excitement into this pretty boring chapter. I would compare this to a filler episode of Naruto, to be honest. Not all that interesting, but I quite like the ending.

I wanted to explain things more this chapter, especially including Konan's thoughts on Pein and Sakura's past with Sasuke. Both of which will become important later on.

Thanks for reading and sorry for the short chapter. I'm busily enjoying my summer! I may be able to update again really soon, but that depends on the feedback for this chapter. Yes, I'm desperate xD

Review and favorite! I'll see ya next time!


	5. Busted

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Busted**

**xxx**

Sakura groaned, leaning her body against the nearest tree she could find. She looked up at the school building she had just evacuated.

Fire alarms still rang in the air and especially in her ears. She suddenly felt light headed from all the noise and commotion she had endured in the hallways as she attempted to find a way out into the backfield.

Unsurprisingly enough, she lost Pein and Konan. She didn't exactly need their help really, since the crowd of students in the halls were racing towards one specific exit and Sakura decided to just go with the flow.

So here we find our tired out female protagonist, in desperate need of water and some food because she's starting to get hungry. If only Hidan had waited until lunch break to unleash his prank… then she would have at least gotten some food into her stomach by that time.

"Sakura-chan!" Her head shot up when she heard her name called out from across the field.

"Hey Naruto – _oof!_" She fell face first and could suddenly taste dirt on her tongue. Staying on her feet proved to be a difficult task today.

Sakura spat out the soil and uncomfortably steered her head to look at the person currently straddling her back.

"Oh, and hey Ino."

"Sakura!" She wailed, pressing her cheek against the top of Sakura's head. "I missed your gigantic forehead taking up all the space."

"Wow, I missed _you _too." Sakura rolled her eyes, rolling her body over and tipping Ino off her back. She looked up into the face of the person she had originally called out.

"Hey Naruto." Sakura smiled, holding out a hand to the blonde boy.

He immediately grasped her offered hand and pulled her to her feet. He still had that same boyish grin on his face and Sakura was glad to see he hadn't physically changed since she last saw him.

"Hey idiot, are you going to help me up too?"

"Nah," Naruto laughed, leaving Ino to groan in defeat. "Whatever," She pulled herself off the ground and dusted her skirt off. "So forehead, what brings you here?"

"Well, someone decided to blow a good chunk off the gym wall and after hearing the fire alarm, I decided that maybe staying inside the building wouldn't be a good idea."

"Oh you know what I mean!"

Sakura inwardly paled, knowing this moment would come but she knew she wasn't mentally prepared for it. _I guess there's no way from steering away from this one._

"Sasuke wasn't worth my time."

Ino's eyebrows raised in surprise. "You say that now, but I bet you regret it the minute you transferred here." Ino walked up beside Sakura and glided a manicured finger under her neck and tugged her chin up, forcing her to look back towards the school. "The school is literally still smoking and you say this is better than seeing Sasuke-kun everyday?"

"Um, well… not exactly."

"You need to set your priorities straight, missy." Ino pulled her hand away and placed both on her hips. Oh, here she goes… "We all matured and grew into the high school life last year without you. We stuck by each other and even met new people. But guess what? It still didn't feel complete. And you wanna know why?"

Ino didn't exactly give Sakura time to reply, "Because you and Sasuke-kun weren't here."

Sakura frowned. "What difference does it make if two people from our old circle of friends weren't here? You even said it, we all matured and we aren't exactly 12 year olds anymore. I'm sorry for not being here, but I don't regret it either."

"I kinda agree with Ino, Sakura-chan." Sakura eyes slightly increased as they diverted towards Naruto. "I'm glad you're not regretting your decision to go to that school, but I honestly felt hurt when you chose Sasuke over us. We all like Sasuke, don't get me wrong, and Ino's right when she says it would have been nice if both of you came here as well… But Sasuke was always a lone wolf. He didn't care as much as we all did about keeping connected. We expected different of you, Sakura-chan."

It was the first time she was hearing Naruto's words sound so broken, and almost hurt. It tugged at her heart strings.

Sakura panicked. This was what she was dreading most the minute she stepped foot into Konoha High School and it wasn't going well. She felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes, hoping that she seriously hasn't severed her friendship with Naruto of all people. "I'm sorry. I was wrong, I do have regrets. And that's neglecting all my friends and expecting Sasuke to be enough to satisfy me. I had my own selfish desires that overshadowed what my friends felt about my actions. I'm so sorr-"

Naruto pulled her into an embrace, and all her worries suddenly vanished. Ino wrapped her arms around them as well, tucking her head of blonde locks into the crook of Naruto's other neck.

They were reassuring her that everything was alright now, and that they would try their best to build their friendship back up to how it used to be.

She immediately felt at home.

**xxx**

"Kisame, would you like to explain all of this to us?"

Said man couldn't help but grin a toothy grin, lifting a muscled arm as he went to scratch the back of his head awkwardly. "I have no idea what you're talking about, sir."

Kakashi narrowed his one visible eye impatiently. "I'm sure you at least have some clue as to why this is going on right now. They are, after all, your friends."

Kisame lowly chuckled, "I bet they're getting scolded right now."

Kakashi shrugged, moving to cross his arms. "Isn't that what's happening here as well?"

"You're not all that intimidating, Kakashi."

"I would prefer it if you refer to me as sensei, like all your classmates do."

"But I'm not like them, remember?" He lifted his eyes to the sky, watching in envy as the smoke rose higher before disappearing completely, and starting over again. "I'm Akatsuki. This is quite enjoyable for me right now."

"You're all quite strange."

Kisame humorously flashed his sharp teeth.

"Kakashi!"

The silver haired man's attention was diverted towards the man in his everyday green jumpsuit running full blast towards him. Kakashi raised his arms to defend himself.

"Well what do we have here?" Gai swerved past a relieved Kakashi and he went to examine the tall senior student. "Kisame Hoshigake, were you a part of this prank?"

"As I previously told your colleague, no, I wasn't."

"Hmm, interesting." Gai scratched his stubble lightly as he further examined him. Kisame held up under his scrutiny, finding it hilarious that Gai of all people was questioning him, considering how clueless and lost he would occasionally get. Kakashi knew this as well and watched exasperatedly as Gai circled Kisame. Gai was going a bit overboard now, and Kakashi guessed it was because Gai was slightly blaming himself for leaving his keys in his classroom and presumed that those Akatsuki kids somehow used them to their advantage.

"Gai, you can stop n-"

"So tell me, why did I catch a glimpse of you closing the teachers' lounge door before darting off just a while ago?"

Kisame inwardly cursed.

_Busted._

**xxx**

"She's probably out there with her old friends. You don't need to worry about her, Pein."

He glanced up from his now turned on phone. "If you're assuming she's the one I'm texting, it's not. I don't even have her number."

Konan raised an accusing blue eyebrow. "Strange how _'she'_ immediately refers to Sakura in your mind."

"Stop playing with me."

Konan sighed, lifting the cigarette back up to her chapped lips. She let her worries wash away with a large intake of nicotine, relaxing all of her tense muscles.

"Do you care about her?"

"Pass me a smoke."

Konan tossed her pack, watching Pein easily try to divert the conversation. "So, as I was saying?"

Pein eyed the cancer stick for minute before placing it in between his lips. It had been so long since he last experienced a drag of the drug and right now was better than never.

Lighting the cigarette, he allowed the smoke to seep into his lungs before smoking out small ringlets one by one. He eyed the empty pack in his hand, avoiding Konan's gaze.

"Pein."

He sighed, tossing the pack into the large green trash bin in front of him. He kept his gaze straight ahead.

He had too much on his mind. Specifically, a certain Sophomore student.

But something that really should be on the forefront of his mind is what had gone down in the gymnasium. Hidan and Deidara have caused yet another mess, and Pein didn't want to think about how this would affect Akatsuki. Of course, there's absolutely nothing to put against himself since he hadn't helped at all, but the school would still be skeptical considering how easily Pein has saved their asses from trouble on other occasions. Right now, he didn't want to think about having to confront them on their careless actions.

Konan and himself decided to avoid the mayhem of the other side of the building by sneaking into the school's trash alley, best known as the place where people went to avoid being caught when skipping class. This was an everyday environment for most of the Akatsuki members, including Pein himself. It hadn't been his idea to come here in the first place, though. Once realizing they had lost Sakura in the large crowd, he stopped for a second to search for her, gripping his palms tightly as he scanned the crowd quite desperately for where she had carried off to before he was pulled by the arm by Konan. Now here they were, smoking some darts trying to pass the time.

Pein finally turned his head and allowed his eyes to drift up into his longtime friend's awaiting gaze, realizing it wasn't his style to just avoid certain topics.

"I only just met her, but… I find her interesting."

"Interesting?" Konan scoffed, tapping her cigarette against her fingers. "Is that another word for attractive?"

"I suppose so."

"This isn't like you," She muttered. "Since when did you get crushes on little girls?"

"Besides, you have duties, Pein. You have no time to be playing 'couple' with someone _so_…"

Pein suddenly felt defensive, "Someone so what?"

"Different. Different from us. She's not in our world, Pein."

"What are you inferring?"

"Pein, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You can't bring her into the affairs of Akatsuki. You should pass that along to Hidan as well."

"I don't plan on doing something like that. As for Hidan, he's obviously just messing around."

"Messing around, huh?" Konan laughed, tossing her bud onto the ground and crushing it with the heel of her shoe. "Would you call what you're doing now _messing around_ as well?"

Pein stared at the ground in wonder. "I haven't done anything yet. Nor do I plan on doing anything, for now."

Konan paused, not believing her ears. "So you're actually…"

Pein looked up into the sky, noticing the smoke had calmed down. Everything looked back to normal, which meant it was his cue to leave.

Raising himself from the gravel concrete, he brushed off his pants before putting out his cigarette like Konan just had. All she could do was watch with annoyed eyes.

"Pein, you shouldn't be toying with a gir-"

"With a girl like her?" He finished, making a blush bloom upon Konan's face. His eyes bored into her gold eyes. "I know that, and I could stand here and lie to you by saying I won't. But if I see her again, I won't be able to hold myself back."

With those final words, he left Konan behind just as the bell informing that it was safe to enter the building again rang.

Konan gripped her paper crane necklace tightly as she watched his descending back in envy.

_Why her?_

**xxx**

"Little fucker."

Deidara watched in a bored manner as Hidan aggressively kicked over yet another hallway trash bin.

"You're just asking for more trouble, yeah."

"Like I care," he scoffed. "Pein better get a fucking lecture as well."

"Ha, as if the principle or anyone would have the guts to question him, yeah. Besides, Pein didn't help you at all this time so there would be no point anyway."

Hidan groaned.

Deidara laughed, pausing only to quickly glance at the office door down the hallway they were walking away from. Hidan had caused too much of a ruckus inside the room so the principle ordered them to wait right outside for their parents to arrive. They both agreed that would be too much of a hassle, and walked right off.

"If only Sakura had been in there." Hidan sighed as he crossed his arms behind his head. Deidara watched him curiously. "The punishment probably wouldn't have been as fucking severe if an honor student like her was in there with me again."

"What do you mean by again?"

The two Akatsuki members paused in their steps as the signal bell calling all students back in rang. They looked at each other for a moment.

"I'm ditching."

"Same, yeah."

They exited through the front doors of the school. Two police cars stood idly in the parking lot, including a now departing fire truck.

"The principle said to wait in there for our parents, though, huh…" Deidara immediately turned back around before being pushed back out by Hidan.

"Don't be a wimp, who fucking cares about parents. We aren't 18 yet so no charges will be put against us anyway."

"Yeah, and so? They're the ones who will have to pay for some of the damages because you didn't fucking tell me that Pein wasn't helping, yeah!"

"Who gives a shit about that metal faced asshole? Even he couldn't have done much to cover for us this time anyways."

Deidara scoffed, "Would've been better than nothing, yeah."

"Whatever, let's just fucking get out of here before our parents show up and we get caugh-"

"Excuse me, would you both happen to be Deidara and Hidan?"

Both looked at the police officer who had suddenly appeared before them. Well, shit.

Deidara quickly lied through his teeth, "Us? Oh sorry, no we're not."

"You sure? I see no students entering back into the building from this door. You both also fit the criteria of the principle who described the both of you… said something about a transvestite looking one and a bulky silver haired guy who are to blame for the crushed wall in the gymnasium. He asked me to watch over you guys but once I got there, I didn't see anyone."

Deidara was inwardly fuming but struggled to pull his lips into an effortless smile. Hidan on the other hand was letting his thoughts be known by laughing out in hysteria.

"No, you've been mistaken, yeah."

"…Are you saying no or yes?"

"No, yeah."

"Is that a yes?"

"No, yeah!"

"You're going to have to be more clear with me miss – I mean, sir."

"It's the way I fucking talk, yeah!"

"Strange speech habit – check. Just as the principle _actually _described you. Don't resist arrest; you both are coming down to the station instead to continue our talk. And yes, your parents are going to be there as well."

Suddenly they were both put in handcuffs. Hidan swore.

_Busted._

**xxx**

Sakura was on her third chocolate bar.

No one seemed to notice. Yet.

Thankfully all the fear Sakura held deep within in when thinking about running into her old friends again was no longer there. She was now sitting at a round lunch table, catching up with every single one of them and enjoying every minute of it.

She couldn't believe she left this behind.

Naruto scarfed down his second burger within minutes, breaking the silence. "Wouldn't it have been way more convenient if that mad explosion destroyed some of the classrooms instead? Now Phys-Ed will be delayed because of it!"

Tenten laughed lightly, "The principle would have found a way to keep us stuck in school, either way. Look at us, we're sitting eating lunch in the cafeteria as if nothing happened."

"Is this how this school is?" Sakura wondered aloud to her friend sat next to her.

"For the most part, yes."

Kiba tossed his empty wrapper into the garbage can and turned back to the table. "Hey, do you guys remember that prank the seniors last year did before graduating? Where they covered the principles car in french fries from McDonalds?"

"What a waste of fries…" Chouji sighed aloud.

"It was still funny, though."

Shino glanced at his friend next to him. "You have a horrible sense of humor, Kiba."

Everyone laughed, minus an annoyed Kiba.

Sakura smiled, politely covering her full mouth. It was nice to finally sit back and laugh with them. Everyone had welcomed her in with open arms and she never felt so glad to have people like them in her life. She could imagine the rest of the school year to play out this way and she was definitely looking forward to it.

What she wasn't taking into account, though, was the craziness that had invaded her life only this morning. Being chased down by that crazy blonde guy called Deidara was one thing, and being stuck with Hidan had been another. She had come to terms that that was a one time thing and she would never endure anything as ridiculous as what Hidan put her through ever again. Pein had been kind to her for the most part, but after him and Konan ditched on her she doubted he would be coming back to actually fulfill his proposal to show her around the school.

She knew all these people, but knew very little about the group itself.

_Akatsuki. _In other words, Dawn. What kind of group are they, exactly? Pein had diverted her questions and she knew she would be getting nothing out of him. Hidan would be her only option, it seemed.

But what about that Tobi guy? He seemed pretty careless and dumb. Maybe he could tell her some stuff…

Why was she getting so involved in it? It's none of her business what they do, right? This definitely isn't the healthiest way to start off the school year but she couldn't help it, the curiosity was itching at her head and she just needed immediate answers.

Which is why she turned to Tenten on her left, who seemed very preoccupied with fixing her buns in the reflection of her phone. "Tenten?"

"Mhm?"

Sakura glanced at the other members at their table, making sure none of them were listening in on her. "Do you know about Akatsuki?"

The bobby pin dropped out of Tenten's mouth, clattering against the table. Tenten's gaping mouth caught everyone's attention.

_Way to go for being discreet…._

"How do you already know about Akatsuki?"

"I uhh…" Sakura prepared to lie through her teeth, but decided that maybe telling half the truth would be better.

"I ran into a few of them this morning."

"Did they say anything to you?"

"Nope. I just bumped into them and said sorry."

_In reality, they didn't leave me alone after that._

"Wait, really?" Ino leaned into Sakura's face skeptically. Sakura sweat dropped. "Is that all that happened?"

"Yes, Ino. That's all that happened."

"So anti-climatic," Ino sighed. "I was expecting something better."

"Something better?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah but whatever, I know you're not the type to get into trouble."

_Oh, if only she knew…_

"Anyway," Ino, obviously bored of the dull conversation, turned towards her manicured nails and starting picking at them.

"So Shikamaru… vice president, huh?" Kiba snickered, leaning back into his chair. "Who would of thought that a lazy ass like you would volunteer for something like that."

"I didn't volunteer, I was recommended by almost all our teachers. It's ridiculous…" He rubbed his temple with two fingers, letting out a long, dramatic sigh. "Now I'm part of student council and have to attend all these pointless meetings after school. I would rather go home and catch up on sleep, man."

"I've done student council work before, and you won't be working on all that stuff on your own, so you don't need to worry." Sakura piped up.

She had thought she was safe from the loud mouth of Ino, but someone just as worse spoke up. "That other guy that was up there with Shikamaru… Poon? Pan?"

"Pein…" Hinata helped him.

Sakura's pulse quickened.

"Yeah, him!" Naruto thanked the Hyuga, causing her to blush. "He's in Akatsuki, right?"

Neji placed his arm on the table and leaned against his palm in thought. "Yeah, that's him. I realized during the assembly that I didn't see him around much last year."

"He looks kinda scary. I bet he always skips," Tenten said, fixing in the last bobby pin into her hair.

Lee immediately exclaimed, "But if he snagged the role as president, he must be smart. A worthy honor student, indeed!"

"But it looked like he skipped out on the assembly half way through after getting off stage. I wonder where he went off to."

_To come look for me._

"Who cares about when, I'm wondering _why _he left! Did anyone else notice him leave right after Kakashi-sensei and Gai-sensei went to go search for his missing keys? And guess what, I haven't seen them since!" Kiba smirked at the mixed reactions throughout the table.

Shino sighed, "Kiba, what are you implying?"

"The guy looks sketchy, and he probably does sketchy shit as well!"

Sakura suddenly wanted to smack the Inuzuka. It's true that she hasn't seen Kakashi-sensei in a while, but to say that Pein is the reason for that made Sakura slightly annoyed. She knew Pein for the most part better than any of them, and to hear such bad talk about him angered her.

But on the other hand, he did strangle her. There was no avoiding the fact that it happened. She still didn't know much about Pein and neither did her friends, so there was no point in accusing them of making up lies because in truth, the Akatsuki really are a sketchy group.

Sakura spoke slowly, mingling into the conversation casually. "Not just him, but all of Akatsuki are pretty sketchy."

Neji sent a piercing stare towards the pinkette. Sakura offered a weak smile in return. _Maybe I shouldn't have said anything._

"Which ones did you run into this morning?"

Sakura feigned ignorance. "Um, a blonde one… a red head… and one with silver hair."

"Well, they do have distinct hair colors. You would be able to tell which ones she's talking about with that." Tenten offered help towards the nervous Sakura, who shot her a thankful smile in return.

Neji nodded, but delved in further. "So Deidara, Sasori, and Hidan. Anyone else?"

"Erm... well..."

Firm hands placed themselves over Sakura's tense shoulders as a waft of warm air brushed against the top of her head. "She skipped over me, it seems."

He gave off that same strong monotone voice that could leave anyone to feel submissive over the attractive male now standing behind her. No doubt about it; his cologne, along with hints of smoke which made her nose scrunch up, smelt just as musky as earlier today. So he really did come after all...

But Sakura wasn't alone, and reality came crashing down as she noticed the wide eyed orbs of all her friends.

_Busted._

**xxx**

* * *

**A/N: **Probably my fastest update, and surprisingly enough, I actually finished this only a couple days after the last chapter. Hopefully the next chapter will be done just as quick!

Also, see the connection to the title? Aha, everyone's getting busted! Well, that was fun to write. I actually REALLY enjoyed this chapter, so much so that I wrote the majority of it in one sitting. What I liked was that I kept going to different scenes to catch up with what everyone was doing amidst the mayhem that Hidan and Deidara caused. But I think my favorite part was with Konan and Pein :). Also, if you are confused about the part with Kisame, Kakashi, and Gai, that will be explained next chapter, along with what'll happen to Deidara and Hidan.

On another note, thank you so much for the reviews last chapter! That was the most reviews I've received for a single chapter thus far and it made me really happy to read all of them! If you have any questions, feel free ask!

Despite the mystery person at the end being quite obvious, I'd like to introduce new characters into the story later on. Suggest characters you would like to see more of or ones that haven't been introduced yet.

See ya next chapter!


	6. The Big Question

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Big Question**

**xxx**

"You smell like shit."

Konan glanced up at the red head and sarcastically replied, "Thanks."

He merely scoffed, leaning himself against the wall beside her crouched form. "I thought Pein encouraged you to stop smoking."

"You can never fully stop."

"Well, it's disgusting. Don't you want to live to your fullest? Humans are petty enough, you're doing yourself no favor by lessening your life expectancy."

"Sasori, what do you want?"

"Itachi was looking for you."

"Why?"

Sasori shrugged. "No idea. Why are you here alone anyway? Where's Pein?"

"He went off to do something."

"I always seem to be out of the loop of things. Mind sharing what went down this morning?"

She sighed. "I have no clue. Hidan and Deidara acted recklessly and are probably paying the consequences."

Sasori rolled his eyes at that. "Those idiots know nothing but trouble."

Konan silently agreed.

Minutes passed before someone else entered the alleyway.

"Konan."

The familiar voice prompted her to glance up at the man. "Itachi..." She quickly noticed the absence of a certain blue haired companion.

She asked, "Where's Kisame?"

Gravel crunched under his feet as he walked the distance to stand directly in front of both of them. He nodded at Sasori before glancing down at Konan.

"I was hoping you would know about that."

Realization passed through Konan's eyes. Itachi and Sasori nearly missed it.

Konan was never one to act secretive, or keep things hidden from either of them, of all people. It set the Uchiha back in slight surprise.

"Konan..." He urged slightly.

She herself could care less if Itachi knew about it. But she was already pissed off as it is, and she didn't want to be thinking about him again. She'd finally calmed down after a couple more cigarettes. Why is her mind always consumed by Pein?

She quickly diverted her eyes to her knees.

Itachi sighed, unable to comprehend what was holding her back.

"What did Pein ask Kisame to do?"

**xxx**

Sakura craned her neck back and stared up into his piercing filled face. His eyes were focused on her, totally disregarding everyone else around him.

_Walking into the Cafeteria like he owns the place... Badass._

Sakura could feel the goosebumps forming underneath his cold hands. "Aha… hey Pein."

"Shall we retrieve your timetable now?"

Sakura bit her lip, slowly turning her eyes back to her table mates.

"Go." Ino quickly squealed, surprising the pinkette. "You still need your timetable before classes start in the afternoon, right? Sorry for hogging you to ourselves for so long!"

"Ino, it's alright, I-"

Ino waved her hand, "We'll just continue our talk later, neh, Sakura?"

Sakura caught the underlying seriousness in her tone. Her words translated to _"You're going to explain what the hell is going on to me later."_

She quickly laughed it off.

Sakura sighed, raising herself from her seat. "See you guys later, I guess."

She dismissed herself from the table, and could feel several eyes boring into the back of her head as she exited the cafeteria following Pein. Thing is, she had a hunch it wasn't only her friends who were staring after her.

Which unknown to Sakura, was true. Gaara observed from his seat in the corner of the room as the girl from the opening ceremony trailed after the new school president like a lost puppy. He scoffed in disgust.

"Looks like hes found a new toy." Temari smirked, also staring after the new girl.

"Man, she's pretty hot."

"Kankuro, you've got no chance."

"Since when has that ever stopped me?"

"Try working your magic on her while in the presence of an Akatsuki member; I dare you."

"Man, just let a dude dream."

Gaara felt his patience dwindling. "Shut up, both of you."

The two sand siblings zipped their mouths immediately.

The serious one of the three never bothered, or found interest in participating in their squabbling. In fact, the red head has never tried to communicate with them unless it ever has to do with business. They're all related by blood, but Gaara sees no other connection between himself and the two.

Such bonds are meaningless him.

Silence loomed over the table. Temari, clearly unaffected, smirked. She lifted her arms upon the table and placed her head into her palms, leaning in to whisper, "So what do you suppose we do about this?"

"Nothing."

"Should we follow after him?"

Kankuro chuckled. "That'd be way too suspicious."

Gaara's eyes lingered on the cafeteria doors. They were long gone, but no doubt they could find the pair if they tried.

"I'm not asking for your opinion, idiot. Gaara, what do you think?"

Gaara crossed his arms and lowered his eyelids. "Not now, that can wait for another day. For now, Let's head out. I think we have enough to bring back."

"But we literally just managed to get in!" Kankuro protested.

Temari slapped him over the head in agitation. The puppeteer yelped, swatting her hand away. She laughed before turning back to the youngest sibling. "So, what is it that we have?"

Gaara smirked, quickly catching both of them off guard. "Her name."

**xxx**

A peaceful silence lingered over the two as they walked in sync down the empty hallway. Sakura was itching to ask Pein so many questions, which was a mix of being nosy and all around curious.

Pein could sense the hesitation in the pinkettes form as she tried formulating words to start up a conversation. Watching her struggle in front of him was slightly pleasing.

"What is it you want to ask?"

Sakura jumped, rearing back from her deep thoughts. "Nothing."

"If you have something to say, say it."

Sakura bit her tongue.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"What's worrying is how aggravated you look. Something must be bothering you."

Did he just indirectly say that he's worried about me?

The thought of that alone made her cheeks flare up.

_Don't misinterpret his words,_ Sakura immediately shook her head.

Sakura awkwardly coughed. "Well, I have a whole bunch of theories of what your Akatsuki group does and what some of my friends said slightly bothered me."

Pein kept his gaze ahead of him, but drank in every word. "You'd have to be in Akatsuki to be given a full view of what it is that we do."

Sakura sighed, "I thought so."

She knew what his response would be, but the way he worded it slightly discouraged her. Of course, that alone wouldn't stop her from finding her sources elsewhere…

Sakura unconsciously pulled out her phone. Pein watched her skeptically as she began to text someone.

**Sakura: Where are you right now?**

He replied within seconds.

**Hidan: sitting in the police station with deidara … idfk why we r even here**

**Sakura: Hmm, I'm not surprised. Is the punishment bad? Will you be back soon?**

**Hidan: 3 day suspension but wtvr, could have been worse. im glad to be out of that fucking school for a while**

**Sakura: Wait… but…**

How is she supposed to tell him that she needs him around so that she can question him about the secrets of his group? Pein standing right next to her was too intimidating.

Besides, something like that Sakura would need to bribe Hidan into telling her in person. Over text would over complicate the process.

**Hidan: don't worry your pretty little head princess, I wont be gone for that long**

A light bulb lit up in Sakura's head.

**Sakura: But… you're supposed to help me get into the yaoi club! Yeah! Remember that? Goddammit Hidan!**

**Hidan: is that all your really fucking worried about atm? how about coming round to my place if your ever feelin up for it, princess**

**Sakura: I'd rather not be placed alone in a room with a person like you after what happened in the teachers lounge, freak**

**Hidan: hahahhahah I dont think thats the way u should be talkin to someone whos supposed 2 be helping you with that club you so want to get into**

**Sakura: Can't you just sneak into the school tomorrow and help me out?**

**Hidan: nope**

**Sakura: But I seriously need to talk to you in person**

**Hidan: well then your gonna have 2 come to my house if you want to talk so badly, or fucking find another way in. either way, im out**

"Ugh!" Sakura aggressively shut off her phone and stuffed it into her pocket. Pein eyed her warily.

"What's the problem?"

Sakura looked up at the orange haired man, noticing she had succeeded in catching his full attention for once since exiting the cafeteria. He didn't look all that suspicious of her, which left Sakura feeling relieved. If he knew what she had been texting Hidan… well, that would be awkward.

But it made Sakura start to wonder. When she turned her attention to her phone, she knew Pein opted to sneaking glances at her. When she looked back up at him, she expected him to turn away as usual, but he kept her gaze.

Either way, it should have pleased her that he was being attentive for once, but it did bother her how he hadn't been when she talked to him all those other times. She was probably expecting too much of him, because as far as she knew he doesn't go as far as to socialize with people outside of his circle that often.

From how long shes known him, Sakura has noticed that he only pays full attention when the topic of discussion slightly interests him. In Sakura's case, that hasn't happened yet.

It made Sakura question her self-worth.

She couldn't help but think back to the way he had looked at Konan in the opening assembly. He looked so engrossed and attentive towards what she had been telling him the whole time, that Sakura felt almost jealous.

Almost.

She probably shouldn't have built her hopes up, but after becoming somewhat friends with Pein, she expected him to be more interested and look at her the way he looked at Konan. Not just for a second or two, but every time she talks to him. He always looks so far off in his own world, his eyes staring straight 99% of the time. Yeah okay, it's only been a couple of hours since they met. But a girl has expectations, all right?

But as she now stares up at his eyes, it's nothing like the way he looked at Konan, like she had hoped for. Instead, it resembled the way he came to pick her up from the teachers lounge. Responsive, but still slightly cold.

No progress at all.

Then again, she shouldn't expect a guy like him to be so warm and friendly towards everyone he talks to, huh?

Maybe all the attention he was putting on her really was on Kakashi's orders. Maybe he didn't want to be here with her at all, and that he's only with her because Kakashi told him to be. He probably finds her annoying and a complete nuisance.

_Ugh, now I feel like an idiot. Thinking I was all special because hes been spending time with me…_

He was awaiting an answer, and Sakura hastily responded. _I must look like a complete loser right now._

"Hidan is suspended for 3 days."

Pein hummed. "I'm not surprised."

"Yeah."

Sakura's eyes quickly diverted to her feet. Pein caught onto it.

He prepared to ask her what was wrong, but immediately stopped himself.

Pein sighed, his lips pulling down into a slight frown. _I'm probably annoying her with all my questions, huh?_

Oh, if only he knew.

**xxx**

"You're annoying me with all these questions."

"I have the right to ask, and I expect answers from you young man!"

Kisame yawned, placing his arms behind his head and crossing one leg over the other. "Man this seat is comfy. Mind if I take a nap?"

The bald headed principle's face turned red in rage. "I'd be willing enough to call up the police once more to take your disrespectful attitude down there!"

"Aw, why do you hate us so much?"

The principle stood up from his seat, pacing the floor to cool himself down. Kisame watched in amusement. "You Akatsuki brats are nothing but trouble! Countless times your friends have caused mayhem in this building and for the first time ever, you've been caught. Those two loudmouths are getting talked to and all that's left is the rest of you, including yourself."

Kisame's eyes followed his repeated movements. "Gai caught you red handed, correct? You were up and about during the opening assembly, and right outside the teachers lounge, at that! I'm assuming you're the one who snuck in, right?"

Kisame knew the answer himself, and smirked at the principals cluelessness.

"Nah, but you can think that if you want."

He stopped his pacing, turning to face the window behind his desk. Kisame rolled his eyes at his next words. "I could possibly up the suspension to an expulsion for all of you if we retrieve more information from the police on this accident. It may be classified as terrorism if that Deidara brat really intended to hurt somebody!"

"Man, it was all probably just a joke. So Chill out, they wouldn't-"

I don't care what you think it is, so stop trying to defend them and worry about what your own punishment could be! So, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Well..."

A light bulb suddenly lit up in the senior students brain.

"Deidara and Hidan didn't explain everything properly to you personally, right? So don't make quick assumptions yet! Call down Pein, he knows what happened."

The principle was silent for a moment, before turning back around to his desk and jabbing the PA system button.

Kisame's eyes twinkled in delight as the principle began making the announcement.

Bingo.

**xxx**

"This is the Biology lab."

"Oh... cool."

Sakura took a quick glimpse inside the room. Just looked like any other other science room.

Pein glanced over the schedule he had retrieved from the lady at the front desk. "Next is Home Economics."

They continue to walk side by side, but unlike before, the silence is torturing.

Does it really take this long to find all her classes?

Sakura just wanted to turn back around and go back to her friends. It's not that Pein's company wasn't satisfying, the air around them had just turned... sour.

She's not sure what happened. If anything, it's probably her fault. Sakura has a tendency to ruin moments like these.

But then again, she didn't say anything. Maybe he really was getting annoyed of her?

Now she just felt selfish. Wanting to go talk to her friends while hes probably having the same thoughts. He probably was forced to disband from Konan because he has to guide around the hopeless new girl.

_Ugh, my self-worth is literally decreasing by the second._

Pein kept at a leisure pace, noticing the way Sakura unintentionally was doing the same and that she probably didn't know it.

In reality, he doesn't want to separate from her yet. He wouldn't care if they walked for hours in this same awkward silence. Just the fact that she was at his side was good enough for him.

There's also the fact that he had chosen the long way to reach the Home Economics for that exact purpose. She didn't seem to notice that as well, luckily.

But what about her? She probably isn't enjoying herself. Pein knows he isn't a talkative person and tends to rely on the other person to strike up conversation. But for some reason, he has the urge to man up and start it himself.

But then he would let his eyes wander down to her face and stop himself.

Is it nerves? He couldn't bring himself to speak a word.

Her lips parted for a moment and Pein quickly diverted his eyes.

"So, about Kakashi-sensei..."

Sakura just needed clarification. Kiba's words aren't getting to her. _Pshhh... As if._

Okay, maybe they worried her a bit.

Kakashi is Kakashi after all. She bears a weird and most likely illegal fondness for him.

"Where is he right now?"

Pein was surprised. This must be what she was worried about asking him earlier. But why would she care about his whereabouts?

The look on Pein's face caused Sakura to fumble with her next words. "No it's just that I - well - okay, some of my friends were wondering where he went during the opening assembly. Would you happen to know?"

Pein raised a pierced eyebrow. "Are you saying I had something to do with his disappearance?"

"No! I just..."

Sakura sighed, stopping in her tracks. Just like earlier today, Pein stopped ahead, turning around to face her and await an answer.

"Kakashi-sensei told you to help me today, right? It's like what you said, he asked you to get me from the teachers lounge and now he must have also told you to help me find my classes. I just wanted to... Well, thank him for wanting to look out for me, I guess."

The fact that she worried so much over asking him something so simple... It seriously annoyed him. Is that Kakashi guy someone important to her or something?

Maybe it's the jealousy, but she should be thanking him instead, right?

_Well, now to rain on her parade, I suppose._

I guess I didn't tell you already, but I'll clarify it for you now. Truth is, Kakashi didn't-"

The intercom placed on the wall next to them suddenly beeped. A voice emits through the speakers.

_"Can student body president Pein please come down to the office. That's student body president Pein please come down to the office."_

Sakura snorted. "Well, look at that. We're already back here."

Which was true. In front of them was the school office.

Pein groaned. Dammit. The long path was the wrong choice.

He shrugged nonchalantly, turning around and walking towards the office doors. "Probably nothing important."

Sakura thought for a moment. _But what if it has something to do with Hidan and Deidara?_

She didn't want to get in his way anymore. So, she awkwardly stood rooted to her spot.

Pein placed one hand on the handle before glancing back at Sakura. "Well?"

Sakura anxiously fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "Oh okay I... I'll wait here than."

Pein internally smiled at her nervousness. "Come on already, I told you I'd help so I won't break that promise."

"What do you mean?"

"Disregard the Kakashi ordeal. Just know that I don't mind helping you find your classes. Besides, we haven't finished yet. So don't stand there like a loner and come in."

Sakura's heart ached at his words. "Yeah but... I don't need to follow you around so much. It's probably annoying. So It's okay, I'll go check my remaining classes on my own." Sakura pulled out the spare schedule in her pocket. "I'll be fine. Thanks for the help up until now."

She smiled once more before turning around and walking away.

Within seconds she heard the rushed footsteps behind herself and her heart beat quickened.

A hand tugged on her wrist. "Hey."

Sakura stopped, opting to only turning her head around so that she could stare up at his ringed orbs. They looked... intense.

Sakura gulped. "Yes?"

He let go of her wrist, leaving behind a tingling sensation on her skin. He began raising his hand to point in the other direction and Sakura almost didn't catch onto his next words. "Home Economics is that way."

_Oh._

Sakura continued the forced smile. "Thanks."

He nodded in reply, not noticing the disappointment on her face. "I'll see you some other time."

Sakura trekked down the correct hallway in a flurry the minute he turned away.

Once far enough she began to slap her cheeks and continuously chanted, _"Stupid stupid stupid stupid!"_

The blood rushing to her cheeks wouldn't go down and she felt her whole face heat up by the second.

Sakura furiously shook her head.

_What is this? I'm always getting my hopes up... How embarrassing._

"Sakura?"

She nearly bumped into him. Sakura looked up into the single eye of her former sensei. "Kakashi-sensei?"

_Good, he's still alive._

It's not as if she still believed Kiba's words from earlier. _Ha, as if._

He scanned her for a moment before raising a questioning eyebrow. "You alright?"

"Yeah." She tried to casually glance at the clock on the wall next to her. Class would begin soon, so finding her last room would just have to wait. "I'm just... heading to class."

"Mhm... what do you have next period?"

She hastily unwrapped the folded schedule in her tightened fist. "English... in room 102?"

"So you have it with me."

Suddenly everything that had just occurred with Pein disappeared from the fore front of her brain. The happiness overloading her system would just have to satisfy her gloominess for now.

Sakura's lips pulled into a wide smile which slightly frightened the grey haired man.

_I have a class with Kakashi!_

"Let's go together then!"

Kakashi sweat dropped. He slightly wished he hadn't told her.

Actually, he slightly wished he hadn't spoken to her in the first place. But she had looked so down and he would be lying if he said seeing her that way didn't bother him a bit.

"Erm, but I have something to do in the office fir-"

Sakura snatched onto Kakashi's arm sleeve and started tugging him down the hallway beside her. He soon fell into step alongside the girl, feeling slightly vulnerable due to his past with her.

She looked up at him with the most innocent smile. "So, you still read porn?"

He coughed loudly into his elbow, allowing his eyes to scan the empty hallway in the process.

"Oh please, I'm sure everyone in the school probably knows it. I remember you use to always read them during class and assumed middle schoolers wouldn't recognize what you were reading by the cover of the book."

He began to reminisce. "It's different this time."

"How so?"

"I don't... read my books on school grounds anymore."

Sakura's eyes widened in slight surprise. Well, who would have thought? She remembered all the times she knew where her sensei would be because the bright orange book stuck to the front of his face always stood out. The thought of seeing him without anything in his hands and his eyes not glued to the naked women printed on those pages was something she never would of imagined to actually come true.

"Well, good on you. Now you wont get fired for sure!"

Kakashi's eye examined the calm expression on her face. "I can only hope."

_But now that you're here, my chances of getting fired just increased._

Sakura whistled a sweet tune.

Kakashi neck began to sweat.

"By the way, what were you going to the office to do?"

Kakashi thought for a moment. "I thought I would drop in to check on Kisame."

_Kisame?_

Didn't Pein mention his name before to Konan?

_If he associates with Pein, he's probably Akatsuki as well._

Sakura bit her lip. Kakashi must know a bit about Akatsuki, right? He seems to be well associated with most of them, especially Deidara. Before she has to confront Hidan, maybe she could get something out of Kakashi.

"So this Kisame guy... Why were you going to check up on him?"

Kakashi mulled over his words. He assumed telling her wouldn't hurt.

"He may have been involved in the prank Hidan pulled this morning. Also, speaking of Hidan, did he escort you successfully to the nurse's office this morning?"

"Somewhat, yes."

"Well that's good. Anything else happen?"

Unlike Kakashi, Sakura knew when to keep her mouth shut, even while in the presence of her precious sensei.

She stuck out her tongue childishly. "Nope."

"Ah, well that's good."

_Why did he ask?_

"Well, here's my classroom."

Sakura looked at the door and remembered Pein pointing it out to her. She needed to get back on topic.

"Anyway..." She looked back up at her sensei. "What does Kisame look like?"

"Tall, blue hair, shark like teeth; you can't miss him. Why do you ask?"

"Hmm, and would you happen to know what role he played in the prank?"

"...I have no clue. He was caught near the teachers lounge during the opening assembly, that's why he's being questioned. We don't have much to put against him, but him being Akatsuki is reason enough to suspect him... now can you explain why you are asking this?"

"Would you also happen to know why Pein was called down?"

"Sakura, you're sounding suspicious."

She immediately bit her tongue. Damn, he's right. This is definitely harder than she had thought it would be.

"Ah well, the reason for that is..."

Sakura jumped at the sound of the bell ringing.

She sighed blissfully and whispered quietly to herself, "Saved by the bell."

Kakashi stopped in the middle of unlocking his classroom door. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

Kakashi flipped on the lights as they both entered the empty classroom.

Sakura took her time examining the room more closely. It's the same room Deidara had chased her down in.

She began to wonder what the two of them were currently up to. Sitting in a police station wasn't something she ever wanted to experience. Then again, by the rate she was going with involving her little self into Akatsuki business, who knows where she'll end up in the future.

She knew she should probably stop, but she couldn't help it. She could always go the safe route and not involve herself at all and live her high school life stress free, or engage herself with the Akatsuki members even more and probably fuck over her future.

It's a chance she was willing to take if it meant the mystery of Akatsuki would be unraveled.

But for now, she would gather information on the down low.

"Pein was right, I really am spy material."

Kakashi looked up from his desk.

"What was that?"

Sakura giggled, smoothly sliding into one of the front desks. "Nothing."

Kakashi eyed her seat choice. _Dammit._

"By the way Kakashi-sensei, thanks for today."

Kakashi's eye lazily looked back to her. His mind mulled over her words carefully.

"If you mean holding off Deidara, then you're welcome."

"Not that, I mean what Pein did for me. He pretty much saved me from getting involved with Hidan's shit and he helped me find my classes."

"Sakura, what does that have to do with myself?"

Her eyebrows scrunched up. "Didn't you tell him to take me back to the gymnasium? I also assumed you told him to help me find my classes as well..."

"I never did any of those things."

"Wha..."

"You should be thanking him, not me."

Is this what Pein meant by the _"Kakashi ordeal"_? What the heck? She should have thanked Pein himself while she had the chance! Now she just felt bad...

Then why did he lie in the first place? He told her and Hidan earlier that he was there on Kakashi's orders. If Kakashi didn't ask him to find her, then why did he?

Which led to the big question; what had really gone on during the opening assembly?

This Kisame guy must have been involved, no doubt.

Sakura sighed, leaning back in her seat.

_No doubt about it; Pein must be a mastermind when it comes to hiding his tracks. He acted as though he had no involvement in Hidan and Deidara's prank probably because he had other things to do. But what role do I play in this? Is Pein still suspicious of me or something? Now I have more shit to try to figure out..._

_Pein. I wonder what he's up to right now?_

Hopefully she'd be able to meet up with him again, and clear some of this up. She was confident enough that she could do this before school ended today.

Though, Sakura would be lying if she were to say that her heart still wasn't beating profusely by the minute at the thought of there being a chance Pein had helped her on his own accord.

Sakura watched as students started filing in.

She'd just have to see what awaited her next period, she supposed.

**xxx**

* * *

**A/N: **I think this is my longest ever chapter, so I'm quite happy about that. Hopefully it was satisfying enough! I've reread it so many times already that I can't even tell whether it was an okay chapter or not. Probably not my best work but oh well.

So, we welcome Gaara, Temari, and Kunkuro into the story and I'm pretty excited for that. Shit is about to go down and I'm ready. Are you?

Also you may have noticed I changed the rating of the story from M to T. I honestly don't see this story turning into a mature read and the only thing I would warn people is be prepared for Hidan's swearing in almost every chapter lmao. But yeah, hopefully no one minds.

What do you think is going to happen? Review and favorite and all the sorts. Next chapter probably wont come out early because I'm trying to update my other stories as well, but feedback is always appreciated!


	7. Dogs Love Strawberries

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Dogs Love Strawberries**

**xxx**

"So that's how it is..."

Kisame watched skeptically as Pein leaned back casually in the red recliner. His usually blank expression reflected a calm appearance and his body isn't at all tense. Quite a stretch as to how most other students would feel when being pressed for answers by their frightening principle, but Kisame knew Pein would never be easily affected.

"Yes," Pein replied to the flabbergasted principles response to all that he had just explained. "That's all that happened."

"Well alright... I understand. But just one thing; are you not going to defend Hidan and Deidara?"

A light smirk crawled its way onto Pein's stoic face. "They're a lost cause. I can assure you that Kisame and I had nothing to do with what they did. The fact that they did something so reckless irks me as well."

The principles eyes switched between both Akatsuki members as he tried rendering the new given information through his head. "Gaara Sabaku, huh..." repeating the name was enough to send shivers down the middle aged man's back. "I haven't seen that kid in ages."

Pein could still see the speculation in his eyes, but continued anyhow. "He was a former student at this school, correct?"

The principle nodded, "Only for 3 days. Things took a turn for the worst quite quickly and he was immediately transferred to Suna High."

Pein's interest in the topic spiked. He planned to use whatever knowledge he could leech out of the principle for later usage. He smoothly continued, "Suna High? But isn't that in the city over? Why so far away?"

The principle clenched his jaw, but it may have been Pein's intense gaze that set off his next words, "Suna is specialized specifically for slightly... unwell teenagers."

The pierced man mentally jotted that down. "And why has he been banned from further entering this school?"

_How does he know that?_ The principles thoughts could be read clearly through his facial expression, and Pein decided this may be it for now. "Pein..." he murmured lowly, seating himself in the recliner behind his desk. "Are you toying with me? All that you said earlier better not have been a lie-"

"Sir, nothing I've ever told you has been a lie. My words today stay true to fact and there will most likely be many other witnesses if you ask for it."

The principles eyes narrowed as Pein continued with a calm expression, "Whether you believe it or not, I saw it with my own eyes. Gaara _was_ here today, inside our very own cafeteria."

** xxx**

"Why did you have to pick the front of the class? Now Kakashi-sensei will no doubt catch me if I ever doze off."

Sakura raised her head from her notebook and sent the Inuzuka a mild glare, "You chose to sit there, it's not like I asked you to."

"But I know you're glad I did."

Sakura switched her attention back to the board once he began to suggestively wag his eyebrows and she struggled to tune out his voice. _Annoying dog._

To Sakura's clear disappointment, she came to realize that the seat you sit in on the first day of school would remain your permanent placement for the remainder of the year. The good side of it was that she was at the front how she liked it, the bad thing was that her seat partner was Kiba. He reigned on her parade when he came waltzing into class earlier and immediately slid into the seat beside her with a smug smirk, his first words being "I beat Naruto. Ha!"

She had tried to ignore his constant whispering throughout class but she was ready to blow any minute now. He was almost as annoying as Hidan, and that's saying a lot.

His lips neared her left ear once more, "You need the school uniform, ye know? It would definitely look great on you!"

She stayed mute.

"Aw come on Sakura, I thought we were friends?"

That statement alone was enough to break her guard. "Since when?" She hissed.

"We have history!"

Sakura scoffed, "I remember no such thing. The only connection we ever had were those two weeks that you dated Ino and you always trailed after her like a mutt."

He let his chin rest in his palm."Hey, hey, me and Ino are cool now. You don't gotta hold a grudge against me like she did all of a sudden."

"I have no grudge against you, you're just really annoying me right now. I'm trying to pay attention to what Kakashi-sensei is saying but you keep-"

"Sakura, is something wrong?"

Jade orbs darted back up at to the front at the teacher's voice. "Uh…"

Kakashi sighed, lowering the chalk from the blackboard and eyeing the both of them. "I'd prefer it if you stop conversing with Kiba so that we can continue the lesson."

"Yes, sorry sensei."

Once he turned his back to them again Kiba loudly snickered. Sakura glared at him through the corner of her eyes and she caught the light smirk gracing his lips. When their eyes connected he quickly held a finger up to his lips and mockingly whispered, _"Shhh."_

Sakura turned away and furiously began copying what was being written on the board.

**xxx**

"Don't follow me."

"But I forgot something from my locker too!"

_Damn liar._

Sakura squeezed in between people as she tried making her way to the locker that she had been assigned earlier this morning. The amount of people in the halls at this time was ridiculous, but she would put up with it. Besides, she really did forget her binder in her locker. There are 5 minute intervals in between each class, so she should have enough time to collect it before the last class of the day begins….

But of course, yet another male rushed through the halls by her side, latched onto her like a lost pup.

_He really is like a dog, _she mused.

Once she spotted her locker, she rushed to it and undid the lock. Sakura put her things from English away and collected what she needed for Home Ec. Kiba's voice could be heard next to her overtop the loud noise carrying out throughout the halls.

"Why not just carry around your things in your backpack? It's so much easier."

"I don't need advice from you."

She could feel his presence shift closer, and awkwardly moved herself further into her locker pretending to search for something else.

"What's got you so cranky? Did I do something to upset you or something?"

Sakura shut her locker and held her books in one arm. Her other hand lay rested on her hip as she eyed up the brown haired male. "Why are you suddenly acting so buddy buddy with me? We literally _never_ talked in middle school. Is this some type of dare or something?"

Sakura would be lying if she said she didn't slightly have a grudge against Kiba after what he said in the cafeteria. It bugged her that he could so wrongly accuse Pein of doing _anything _to Kakashi-sensei. His words obviously wouldn't affect her search for the truth, though. Sakura would find out what happened during the opening assembly eventually, and she'll gladly shut down any misconceptions people have on Akatsuki, and especially Pein.

Kiba's slanted eyes narrowed slightly at her accusation. "I don't have wrong intentions. I just thought we could start fresh and be good friends."

Sakura's feet once again carried her through the crowded halls, and she could feel Kiba's presence remain at her side. She wasn't sure if his words held any honesty behind them, so she stayed on guard. Her eyes focused ahead as she talked, "You probably want something out of it. Wait, let me guess, is it about Pein?"

He remained silent for a moment, catching her off guard. She turned to him and her eyes were met with a large smirk stretched across his face. "Not at all, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't mind knowing a bit about them. Like seriously, who wouldn't?"

His words instantly reminded her of her plan to leech out as much information on Akatsuki as she could. "I suppose I agree with you on that…"

"Mhm, and they actually bring some enjoyment to coming to school every day; causing havoc and pulling pranks no one would expect. Like seriously, where did Hidan get that motorcycle? That was sick!"

_Is he some Akatsuki fanboy or something? Or maybe a sympathizer…_

"So, you actually like them?"

If possible, his smirk stretched even further. "I don't know each of them personally, but they're overall pretty awesome in my opinion."

"Do the others think the same?"

"Mmm… probably not. Neji definitely doesn't, and I think Hinata is scared of them. Shikamaru was telling me earlier that he doesn't really look forward to working with Pein on committee because he's a bit freaky. But anyway, why do you wanna know what others think – wait, are you dating Pein!?"

His words froze her in spot. "What kind of conclusion is that? And don't be so loud!"

"Well geez, sorry." His lips remained in a smile as he spoke. Sakura could catch the same canines he sported in Middle School poking out. "It just sorta seemed that way. Ye know, it's not every day that you see an Akatsuki member other than Hidan hitting up chicks."

"Pein wasn't 'hitting me up', he was offering his assistance in helping me find my classes."

He subtly rolled his eyes, "It was still kinda weird to be in such close proximity to him, though. I didn't even know that you knew him so well."

"It's not exactly like that…" Sakura wasn't sure if telling Kiba before Ino would piss off the blonde. Especially after Pein's grand entrance into the cafeteria, she would no doubt expect answers out of the pinkette soon enough. But whatever. It's not like Kiba was _completely_ untrustworthy. Plus, lying wasn't her forte.

"I only met him this morning. He helped me quite a bit with other things as well; like helping me find the gymnasium for the opening ceremony. I probably should have told all of you guys sooner, though. In everyone else's perspective it was probably pretty weird that he showed up at our lunch table, huh?"

"Yeah. totally weird. I think the whole cafeteria was watching."

Sakura hummed, "I'm not surprised."

"Anyway, what class do you have now?" Sakura asked, genuinely curious. She might as well hang around Kiba, seeing as she knew no one else in her classes so far.

"I have Physics."

_I spoke too soon. _"Dammit," Sakura sighed, once again stopping in the middle of the hallway. Kiba backtracked and stood in front of the pinkette as she continued her rambling, "I have Home Economics and I have no clue where it is."

Kiba thought for a moment. "So we don't have last period together, huh…"

"Seems so."

Right at that moment, the bell rang.

"Just my luck." Sakura shook her head in annoyance. "I guess I'll see you later, I'm going to see if my schedule will be of any help…"

"Ye know, we could always skip."

"Huh?"

"I was planning on ditching because I have something to do. I'm asking if you want to join me in my escape?"

Sakura paused midway from retrieving her schedule out of her pocket. Her eyes raised to Kiba's. "You're kidding, right?"

He scratched his head, letting his eyes wander around the empty hall. Sakura did the same, and noticed that the mass amounts of students had disappeared. Kiba finished his surveying and refocused his eyes back on Sakura's jade orbs, "Dead serious. Home Ec is such a bore; you won't like it."

"But isn't Physics pretty important?"

He scoffed, "I could care less. Like I said, I have something to do."

Sakura considered his offer. Skipping would be the most rebellious thing Sakura could ever involve herself in. There's no way her mom would approve of such a thing, and her own personal pride would never risk it either. Plus, she was preaching what a good little girl she was to the principle earlier today and to suddenly get on his bad side wouldn't be smart.

But then Hidan came to mind, and how she promised herself that she'd figure out what Pein was up to by the end of the day….

Yup, she's going to Hidan's house. Hidan knowing anything about it is highly unlikely, but it's her best bet. In the mean time she could also leech out info on the Akatsuki as well. She'd be killing two birds with one stone just by visiting Hidan. He's a dumbass anyway.

"Okay, deal. Let's go."

"Alright, well we better go now before a teacher spots us."

a rush of adrenaline shot through Sakura and she was already walking ahead before he had finished his sentence. He quickly followed suit, letting his eyes wander down south as he walked up behind her.

"Eyes up, Inuzuka!"

Kiba smirked. "It's too nice to not look at!"

"I've seriously never met a pervert like you," she groaned, slowing down her pace so that she was now walking in line beside him.

"Well then you're obviously not paying enough attention to your surroundings, babe."

**xxx**

**Pein: We just finished up. Meet us in the storage space downstairs.**

Itachi stared down at his cellphone in contemplation. He had just been in the middle of a back to school pop quiz, one that their Calculus teacher urged would be important if any of them wanted to see if they had a shot of graduating this year. Itachi easily complied and finished the sheet within a reasonable time, and now he was sat at his desk surrounded by students who were still struggling to answer the first few questions. Bored would be an understatement of how he currently felt.

**Itachi: My last period teacher is quite strict; I'm not sure he would believe any measly lie so easily.**

**Pein: I expect that you'll be able to find a way out, Itachi.**

Choosing not to reply any further, he leaned back in his chair and sighed quietly. _Always demanding the impossible, _he thought to himself. Whatever, he would try his luck.

The Uchiha raised an arm up, catching the attention of those around him. "Mr. Sarutobi."

The man himself raised his head from the work in front of him. His eyes caught sight of the man in the second row who's velvety monotone voice had caught his attention."Yes, Itachi?"

"May I excuse myself to the washroom for a moment?"

_So formal, _Asuma muttered, opting to offering a quick nod in his direction. "Thank you," Itachi said quietly as he rose from his seat. Passing through several occupied desks, he glanced once more at the classroom behind him before exiting out the door. Asuma stared after the dark haired male in wariness. _He's one of 'em, huh?_

Shrugging to himself, he turned back to the work residing his desk. _So quiet and dull looking; he couldn't possibly hurt a fly._

**xxx**

"Itachi, there's a fly on your shoulder."

The insect was brutally swatted off before Kisame could finish his sentence. The blue haired man grinned at Itachi's sharp awareness to things around himself. "Nice."

"We should probably finish this up quickly. Who knows when a teacher will spot us," Sasori spoke, catching everyone's attention.

"They've really upped their security," Konan spoke next, eyeing the vicinity they resided in. "I don't think a storage closet is going to cut it for the remainder of the year."

Kisame spared a glance to the shorter female on his left, offering one of his famous toothy grins. "We only have one year left and then we're out of here. Plus I think we can put up with this for now, seeing as we don't have every single member joining us in meetings these days."

"Tobi still has two years left! Don't leave yet or Tobi will be all alone!" He whined, forcing the majority of them to tune out his wretched childish voice.

Konan being one of the more calmer members, patted the boy on the shoulder and reluctantly spoke. "Tobi, we've had this conversation countless times. It's not our fault that you're one year younger than all of us, we can't control when we all graduate. Plus you have Deidara with you, so try to stay satisfied with that."

At the mention of his blonde friends name, Tobi giddily jumped up and down, causing the sports equipment on the wall to shake profusely. "Deidara-senpai doesn't really like Tobi, but Tobi is happy we're in the same grade!"

"Yeah yeah, he's not here right now so don't get all excited for no reason," Sasori muttered, halting a rack of hockey sticks to stay still beside him. "But someone who _should _be here right now isn't."

They all knew who Sasori was talking about. The person he speaks of, after all, did ask for all of them to gather together last period. Where could he possibly be?

As if he had heard mention of himself, a new person entered through the door. Pein shut the door behind himself and leaned his back against it, realizing there would be no other spot for him to really stand. His eyes took in those who listened to his request for a gathering, and disappointment couldn't possibly cover what had gone through his eyes at that moment.

Pein's eyes turned to Kisame. "Where's Kakuzu?"

"Apparently sick today. Haven't seen him in a while."

"Zetsu?"

"Who knows about that guy."

"And then of course, Hidan and Deidara's suspension..." He sighed through his nose. "What an annoyance."

Kisame let out a hearty chuckle at their leaders clear irritation. "It's just four who are missing. That's an improvement from our summer meetings, right?"

"Doesn't make the situation any better."

"Can we hurry this up? I'm getting impatient."

"Sasori, your art class can wait." The redhead huffed at Itachi's comment. The Uchiha continued, "Now Pein, what is it you wanted to discuss with us?"

"It's in regards to today's happenings."

Ringed orbs calculated each member. His words seemed to have sparked something in each of them.

I think its time I told all of you what has been going on more properly..." His eyes diverted to Kisame for a moment, "And what we both ran into today."

"Konan told us something quite interesting during lunch," Sasori smirked, leaving behind his urge to return back to his sculpture in the art room. "Something about an intruder?"

"You can call it that. I would prefer to call it a spy, or more so a few _spies."_

"You just returned from the principals office right? Did you tell him about it?" Itachi asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yes, but not in explicit detail. I made it out so it sounded like we already had everything dealt with. We don't need him on our case any further... And Konan?"

Said girl quickly raised her chin and stared up unaffected into his intense eyes. "We have a lot of planning to do. I'm leaving you in charge of the girl."

The blue haired woman stared back in surprise. "Sakura? What does she have to do with this?"

"That name rings a bell..." Sasori mused, "The pink haired child."

"She only two years younger than us. And Konan; all will be answered within due time."

His response didn't satisfy her at all, but she said nothing to defy his orders. She merely nodded in acknowledgment.

"As for the rest of you; your roles will be created more down the line once we get further into this case..." Pein's eyes scanned each of their faces, but finally landed on Sasori's confused eyes. "You can choose to pass this task to someone else if you'd like, Sasori. But I have something that you could do sooner."

Auburn eyes burned with anticipation, readying to accept. He was never one to back out of a request from leader, most of the time wanting to show how capable he was at completing anything handed to him. Pein used the redhead's sense of self pride to his advantage, and uttered the words he was waiting to hear.

"Does the name Gaara Sabaku ring a bell?"

**xxx**

"So, have you still not had your first kiss? Or did Sasuke finally take that stick out of his ass and bless your lips?"

Sakura paused before taking another lick from her strawberry popsicle. "What kind of stupid question is that?"

Kiba shrugged his shoulders against the brick building to his back. He allowed his half shut eyes to open fully and gazed down at Sakura's short form. "I thought you liked him? Isn't that why you went to King Serpent?"

"Uh, well…" Sakura moved the cold treat away from her plumped lips. "Does everyone think that?"

Kiba couldn't help but lower his gaze to her red stained lips. _Dammit_. "So… was it just a rumor? Why else would you go to the same school as Sasuke?"

"No, it was true; I went because of my silly crush on him. It just bugs me because you all probably thought I looked really pathetic doing that."

Kiba stifled a laugh, "Yup, you sure did!"

Hearing him agree with her ticked a nerve in her system, but she chose to ignore it. "I still don't understand how all you guys welcomed me back so nicely. It's still hard to process, to be honest."

"Hmm well…" He let his eyes wander to the sky above, realizing that her lips were distracting his train of thought. He closed his eyes for a moment before he spoke, "Ino probably gave you a bit of trouble this morning, right?" Sakura's silence was enough to know he was right. Kiba smirked before he continued, "But she still showed that she cared, right? She can be like that sometimes. A total feisty, judgmental bitch who does all she can to make you feel like shit at one moment, and then the next she's hugging you and asking for forgiveness."

"Uh… it didn't exactly go down like that-"

"Oh wait, what does she have to be sorry for, right? I bet she made you say it."

"Erm, yeah I guess I di-"

Kiba started to chuckle loudly, almost making Sakura drop her popsicle in surprise. His head turned back to her, and the fiery in his eyes also nearly caught her off guard. "You know, I also wondered why it was so easy for everyone to accept you back. But then I realized, it was Ino who introduced you back, right? Who would _dare _defy queen Yamanaka?"

"Uh Kiba why do you look so ma-"

"She literally acts like the leader of our squad, always bossing everyone around, especially poor Chouji! It's like she doesn't have feet of her own to walk across a room by herself to get what she wants. She has this mentality that she's above everyone else, and it seriously pisses me off!"

Sakura watched wide eyed as he aggressively began gripping his palms. His anger radiated off his trembling form, and to her upmost surprise she has never seen Kiba this angry in her life. It happened so fast that she didn't know how to go about asking him what was wrong.

"Erm, Kiba?" Seconds passed and his lack of response slowly began to annoy her.

Sakura grabbed the sleeve of his school uniform and she quickly jumped back as he began stripping it off his body. She watched as he sent her a blank look once he had removed it. "It's too hot out to be wearing long sleeves," He murmured, letting the blazer hang from his elbow.

"Ah," She breathed. She really didn't know how else to respond.

They both stood in front of the convenience store in calm silence, the fact that adults were shooting them strange and accusing glances not bothering them in the slightest. They had skipped in the first place to go do their own thing, but on the way Sakura noticed a quaint convenience store and she got Kiba to buy her something. He had seemed so happy and quite energetic earlier on, having finished his popsicle quickly enough that he laughed at how slow she was. But things took quite a turn, and Sakura still couldn't process his distaste for Ino clearly. Was it because of their fling in middle school? Did something go on last year that she totally missed out on? It bugged her not knowing, but seeing that he had significantly calmed down now, she made no move to bring up the blondes name again. She didn't want to see him all mad again.

He says Ino held a grudge against him, but he's holding out an even longer one against her. But didn't he mention that they're "cool" now?

_God dammit. Here it is, another mystery yet to be solved. But I guess it's not bad to have a hobby like this, huh? If only I could earn community hours doing this, my 100 hours would be done no problem!_

She let her eyes wander back to him, for once noticing that he still donned the red triangle tattoos on his cheeks. As per usual, his hair looked like an abomination of tangles and unkept spikes, but it somehow accentuated his character quite well. His tanned skin was what she most liked about him. It's probably because she's jealous that he has such a natural shade to him, but it also gives off the appearance that he's out in the sun quite a lot.

"Hey Sakura?"

Sakura broke from her musing and noticed his dark orbs staring straight at her own. She quickly answered, "Yes?"

I'll be happy if you wear it tomorrow," He said slowly.

"What?"

"Your uniform."

Sakura caught the underlying teasing in his tone and decided to call him out. "Let me guess, it's because of the skirt, isn't it?"

"Bingo."

His signature smirk was back on his face, and Sakura hoped it would be there to stay for a bit longer. She also couldn't help but laugh, and soon enough he joined in. Kiba's presence returned back to being playful and fun, and Sakura knew that she may has well enjoy it while it lasts.

Visiting Hidan would just have to wait a little while longer. Well, maybe until she finished her strawberry popsicle which was beginning to drip down her hand...

**xxx**

* * *

**A/N: **So I tried not to steer away from the main "plot" we have going on, but I couldn't help but put in some KibaSaku time. I mean, this is multisaku after all! Any other guys you want Sakura to get to know better? I won't be throwing a whole horde of men at her at once now, I just need to develop them and I think Kiba+Sakura wasn't too hard to do since we're assuming they already knew each other before. So yeah, suggest other Sakura couples and I'll see if I can get the relationship development going on the side! Also, what do you think the Akatsuki are planning, as well as what Gaara's role in this will be? ;)

And to answer one question!

_**Q:** "I'm confused about why Kakashi is so nervous about Sakura being near him. I feel like I missed some important detail... Maybe I should re read the book..."_

**A:** Kakashi is nervous around Sakura because in the first chapter I vaguely explained that something happened in middle school, and Sakura ended up getting Kakashi fired. Now he is very cautious around her, because he feels like she'll do something. What happened in middle school will be explained eventually !

Well this was quite a long write up. I'll see you guys next chapter when I hopefully get around to writing it! Reviews and Favorites are much appreciated! x


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